Sekai Sentai RiftRanger
by AKA99
Summary: The Rift Guardians are one of the major police forces in this infinite universe. Thousands of warriors from hundreds of different alien species join together in different teams to protect the innocent from harm. However, as the universe is threatened, one team of elite Rift Guardians must fight to try and save everything they love. Rated M for profanity and eventual blood and gore.
1. Rift 1

Rift 1: A New World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"** **Connected"**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Super Sentai series. This is simply a fun little story I wanted to post because I had an idea I really liked and wanted to write out.**

* * *

The water crashed against the rocks, spraying the young woman who was staring out at the sea.

The young woman was of a tan complexion with light blue hair. However, her skin appeared to have a slight scaled appearance. She wore a skin tight sleeveless dark blue crop top that ended just above her belly and skin tight navy shorts ending just above her knees. She had on a pair of what appeared to be blue sandals. Her hands had on a pair of light green gloves. Over her shirt was a white vest with a blue symbol in the shape of a blue wave over where her heart would be.

She reached into the pocket of her vest and pulled out a small gold circle-shaped device with three white lines running over the top and a single black line dividing the circles. On the back of the circle, there was the same wave symbol that was on her vest.

She turned around and started walking away from the area, the wind blowing her hair out of the way to reveal what appeared to be a set of gills on her neck.

* * *

A rather bulky young man walked through the desert. He had shaggy black hair and was rather tanned with his clothing consisting of yellow pants, a beige tank top, yellow shoes, and a white jacket with a yellow rock shaped symbol in the same area as the young woman.

He said something in a foreign language as he kept walking.

* * *

A slightly pale slender young man walked through a forest. He wore a pair of black shorts and a black shirt under a white trench coat with a black circle shape over his heart. He had a pair of black boots on his feet. He looked sort of a like a wolf in some ways, with his skin appearing to be covered in what looked like fur on parts of his body. He had long black hair that covered the side of his face and a pair of what appeared to be wolf ears on his head. His hands looked slightly clawed.

He scowled as he continued to walk.

* * *

A slightly pale young girl looked around in amazement as she walked through a city. Her hair was a dark brown color with white streaks going through it. She wore a pair of baggy pants and a baggy shirt under a white sweater that had two slits along the back and a gray vortex above her heart. She was barefoot. She giggled as she looked around the city.

* * *

Lastly, an Asian young man walked down the sidewalk. He had brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing a red sweatshirt over a white shirt and green pants. He had on a pair of black and blue sneakers.

Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head. "Good. I've settled in. Now hopefully I can move on."

He continued to walk, passing by the girl with white streaks in her hair. She noticed him, but kept walking as if he wasn't there.

* * *

 **Narration: The Universe is an infinitely large space. So much that multiple forces have formed to keep the balance of the Universe safe. And now, four officers of one of those forces will join together with one human to save the Universe from a new threat!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers traveled through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with PegasusRanger's wings, MinotaurRanger's horns, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all five as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. A male voice can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** The young man in red walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, the young woman in blue was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** The pale young man in black grasped a coin in his hand tightly. Then, the girl in white was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** The bulky young man in yellow was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, an older woman was seen doing paperwork while looking rather frustrated. A younger man walked up to her while placing a cup of something on the table.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara** **hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers along with their helpers were seen inside of their base. The four got into different positions as lines began to fill the screen.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The five RiftRangers pulled out their transformation devices and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with lines opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** The red RiftRanger swung his lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** The blue RiftRanger blasted at a Peasant with her large gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** The black RiftRanger struck at multiple Peasants with two katanas.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** The white RiftRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an energy arrow from her bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** The yellow RiftRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** Five giant robots were seen before the next shot was a larger robot that looked to be their combined form.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five RiftRangers were shown together with a close up shown of them one after the other.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The five giant robots flew away from a line in the air then combined into their giant robot form once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of their mecha.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

The young woman with light blue hair walked down the sidewalk, the circle-shaped device perched in her right hand. A holographic screen was over the device as a blue light shone from it.

She looked down at the device and bit her lip in concentration. She said something to herself as the screen showed a red arrow pointing forward.

In the distance, the young man in red exited a building with his hands in his pockets. He looked up at the sky. "Looks like a storms brewing. Better be careful."

He then looked both ways but crossed the street.

The woman looked up as the arrow of her device followed the young man.

She said something aloud then ran to the young man. She ran in the middle of the road but halted her progress as a car screeched to a stop while honking at her. She held out her hands in apology and gained the attention of the young man. Though he simply glanced at her but moved on.

The woman turned back to the person she was following and ran to him. She called out.

The young man turned back to her as she ran up to him.

"Oh. Uh, can I help you?" the young man asked.

The woman said something in a foreign language.

"…I'm sorry?"

The woman repeated what he said.

"…I'm honestly sorry but I don't know what you're saying and I doubt I could be of much help."

Groaning, the woman held up the device and pressed down on a button. A light shone from the device onto the young man, scanning him up and down. When it died down another holographic screen formed, this one showing something written in a foreign language.

"What was that?"

The young woman didn't answer, instead nodding and holding the device up to his face. She pressed the button again. This time, it flashed in his face.

"AGH! What was that for?"

"I'm sorry, but I figured that using the translator function of the Rift Closer was the best way to have us communicate." A relatively deep female voice spoke up.

The young man blinked as his eyes readjusted. He looked at the young woman in front of him.

The young woman lowered her arm. "My name is Rina, I'm here to recruit you to be a Rift Guardian."

"Rift…Guardian?"

"Yes…oh, right. I forgot that this planet is one of the ones that are out of date when it comes to universal information. Well I'd be happy to explain what this responsibility is but the choice is completely up to you."

"…you sound crazy but given your magic translator…thing-y…I'll follow along for now."

* * *

A figure sat in a throne on a raised up platform. Underneath the platform, two other figures could be seen sitting in seats of their own. Another figure was seen walking up to them whilst holding a platter with two wine glasses.

The figure on the right was a buff male who had a regal appearance, his skin being a violet color with a coat that had a line from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist. The area above the line was a dark blue while the other side was a dark red. A lone cloth hung from his right arm while his left arm had no sleeve. Below his waist he had on trousers that were dark red on the left while dark blue on the right along with shoes that were the same color as the respective side they were on. His face was alien, having golden eyes and smooth violet skin but no mouth. A small crown rested on his head of short magenta hair.

The figure on the left was a slender female with an hourglass figure and her skin being a pale blue. She wore a dress that had two parallel lines running down the center. The right and left sides of her dress were navy blue while center of her dress was white. She wore a pair of heels with the insides being white and the outsides being navy blue. Her face was more human-like but still alien, with glowing sky blue eyes and a tiny bump of a noise but only a line with small bumps as her lips to indicate her mouth. A tiara was perched on the cyan hair on her head.

The figure with the platter was female with a petite figure and her skin being a light brown. She wore a maid's outfit, with the skirt being black with white on the front and sides and the torso being primarily white with black lines over it. Her arms were covered in black sleeves that extended to her elbows. The rest of her arms from her elbows to her fingers were covered in white gloves. She wore black leggings under the skirt and a pair of black and white heels. She looked to be the most human of the group, with the only alien qualities about her being her curly red hair with yellow highlights, her black lips, and her bright orange eyes.

The two on the throne took the wine glasses off the platter. "Thank you, Maid." The female figure on the lift spoke. After she took a sip of the drink, her lips moved slightly as she spoke again. "Hand."

A single line was drawn in the air, violet energy pouring from it as a figure jumped out.

"Yes, my Princess?" he bowed to the female on the left.

Hand was a figure with black skin. His outfit resembled that of a butler, with dark gray pants and a dark gray coat above a white top. His face looked similar to that of Princess but with smaller lips, a larger nose, and white eyes. His dark gray hair was hidden under a black top hat. In his right hand was a plain black staff with a white disc on the top.

"How goes the mission of Master?" Princess asked before sipping from her glass.

"It is going well. His forces have recently tracked down a small group of Rift Guardians on a planet they've recently declared under their protection. Due to their small size, it should be quite simple to accomplish what he wishes."

"Hmph. If it were that simple, he should be done already." The male spoke up for the first time, his tone filled with boredom.

"My Prince, you misunderstand. Rift Guardians are not to be taken lightly. We must be vigilant and be careful while planning if we are to take them out." Hand pointed out.

"That's stupid. Order Master to take them out already or he'll hear from me." Prince ordered.

"Prince, that's not a wise decision." Princess warned.

"But then what's the point if he won't get rid of them immediately?"

"Prince." The figure on the throne above the three spoke up, her voice filling the room.

"Y-yes Mother?" Prince said.

"Do not underestimate Master's abilities like you have before. I picked him for a reason and I believe that he will not fail, as regrettable as his plan may be."

"My Queen?" Hand said.

"It pains me to have to kill to get our message across but if we must do it, then we must do it. Tell Master to advance with his plans at a normal pace." Queen spoke up from her position.

"I understand, my Queen." Hand bowed before another line formed behind him and took him away.

Prince downed the rest of his drink and then practically slammed it back on the platter.

* * *

"Alright, so you both wanted water, correct?" the waitress asked.

"Yes, thank you" the young man in red looked to the waitress as she set the waters down on the table next to them then walked off.

Rina looked down at the glass in front of her in confusion. After a moments pause, she pulled out her device and held it to the water while pressing the button down again.

It scanned the water before showing a holographic screen and the foreign language again.

"So if that thing is supposed to enable us to communicate, how come I can't read what that says?" the young man asked.

"Probably a glitch. I'll fix it later." Rina said while picking up the glass. "So what is this? My Rift Closer says it's healthy but I'm not sure."

"Rift Closer? That's what that thing's called?"

"Yes, the Rift Closer is designed to open safe Rifts between worlds and close those that can cause serious damage. It also has a multitude of other functions, like translations, scanning, searching, and so on."

"Oh. Anyway that liquid is called water." The young man picked up his glass. Rina mimicked his motions.

As the young man sipped from the cup, Rina however began sipping but transitioned into drinking the entire thing in one go.

The young man stared. "Thirsty?"

"It's water, it just looks slightly different than it is on my world. Also tastes a bit different. You act like you've never seen a Seaian drink water."

"…what's a Sea…Sea-i-an?"

"Right, forgot about the "New to this" thing. Well, I'm an alien, simply put."

The young man blinked at her. "I'm just going to leave, if that's okay."

As he got up, Rina pulled her hair back, showing off a set of gills on her neck and her slightly scaled skin. The young man was taken by surprise.

"Wow, good makeup job, that's really cool."

"Look, just hear me out. I know I haven't been good at explaining all of this so far but give me another chance and I'll explain it more."

The young man sighed but sat back down.

"Okay. Basically, in the universe, there are three main organizations that protect it from threats that are unable to be handled by other heroic teams or regular people. The organization I am a part of is called the Rift Guardians. We protect the universe using the power of Rifts, which are gaps in time and space. Our main goal is to take care of the Rifts in the universe that endanger lives though we do also take care of evil groups."

"…so to take care of the Rifts, you make more of them? That doesn't make sense."

Rina shrugged. "Well to be technical, the Rift Guardian technology can open Rifts, but the way it's designed the Rifts are safe, non-lethal, and don't endanger anyone's life. And the Rifts are only open for the tenth of a second before they are forced shut to prevent anymore damage to time and space."

"…still seems pretty fishy to me" the young man crossed his arms. "And it still seems a bit too hard to believe, despite the evidence."

"Would you like me to transform to show you evidence?" Rina tilted her head.

"Transform? Let me guess, you have a true form and you're just disguised as a human?"

"Oh, no. This is my actual form, but my Rift Closer allows me to change into a special form unique to the elite Rift Guardian squads. It allows me to transform into a RiftRanger."

"…okay now you're just pushing it with the names. But I'll ask, why did you pick me?"

"Well, that's fairly simple really-" Rina started. She stopped when her Rift Closer let out a series of beeps. She picked it up and looked over it as a screen formed.

"Ah, there's an open Rift nearby. Looks like you're getting to see what a Rift Guardian does firsthand." Rina stood up and left.

The young man got up to leave but took out his wallet and left a few dollar bills on the table before following her.

* * *

Elsewhere, multiple figures were seen jumping out of a line in the sky. Almost all of them looked relatively the same, having dark green skin under yellow armor. Their armor didn't look very useful. Their movements were rather robotic

One figure in particular looked different than the others, with the figure having bronze skin with golden armor covering him. His armor was much bulkier than everyone else's.

"Now. Where to start? Come, Peasants, let's get us a Rift Guardian!" the one figure shouted.

* * *

Rina and her companion walked up to the area, Rina pulling out her Rift Closer.

"Let's get this over with, it looks like it's about to rain." The young man said.

"First off, we need to locate the Rift" Rina held out the device and held down the button before pivoting in place to cover every area.

Soon enough, a black line formed in midair.

The young man's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's a Rift. It looks to be complete so I'll need to close it off at the other side first before closing off this side." Rina started typing on a holographic screen on her Rift Closer. "It doesn't appear to have been opened for too long so it should be relatively simple to close it."

Within a minute, the Rift turned bright white before it faded away.

"And, that's it. Rift closed." Rina grinned before turning to her companion.

"Holy crap." The young man said. "That was cool."

"And that's just part of what a Rift Guardian does. So, how about it? Will you be a Rift Guardian?"

"Probably." The young man replied. "But shouldn't there be more of an interview?"

"Yeah, but right now all I need is verbal confirmation showing your interest. The interview and paperwork can be done later."

"Good to know…wait, paperwork?"

Rina didn't get to answer when there was a loud explosion in the distance followed by screams.

The two ran towards the source without hesitation. When they reached it, they found the figures in yellow armor along with their leader.

The group attacked civilians with swords and guns, knocking to the ground while either severely injuring them or killing them.

"What are these things?" the young man said aloud.

Rina grit her teeth then walked forward. "I order you to stop!"

The leader stopped his attack on one civilian then turned to Rina. "Oh? The prey ordering around the predator?" he noticed her vest. "So you're a Rift Guardian, are you?"

"I'm placing all of you under arrest! Please put down your weapons and come peacefully." Rina ordered.

"Just you against all of us? My name is Gold Knight. Peasants, kill her." Gold Knight ordered.

The "Peasants" got ready and charged Rina. The young woman ducked back from an attack and simply began dodging all of the attacks that came her way while drawing her Rift Closer.

The young man on the other hand did his best to avoid the Peasants around him.

Rina moved to the young man and shoved him out of the crowd.

As soon as she did, the Peasants around her began forming a ring but not attacking.

She held her Rift Closer up over her left shoulder.

"Open the Rift!" she ordered, the white lines on her Rift Closer glowing blue. She pressed the button on the side down.

 **Rift Opened!**

Blue energy covered the Rift Closer as it split open along the black line, revealing a lighter blue on the inside that lit up.

"Connect The Worlds!" Rina threw the arm holding the Rift Closer to the right, holding it so the lighter blue line on the inside was vertical.

A Rift formed along the line of the Rift Closer. Water surged from it and circled around Rina. Black energy flowed across Rina's body from the Rift Closer and formed a skintight suit. The water around her aligned onto the suit into different patterns before solidifying as part of the suit. The water around her head formed a helmet that solidified into a light blue helmet.

 **Kraken! World Connected!**

Rina was now covered in a primarily light blue suit that was black along her knees, elbows, wrists, ankles, stomach, and just under her waist. The light blue portions of her suit had designs over them that resembled scales on her arms and suction cups on her legs. On her chest were two large crisscrossing lines that resembled Rifts, with the one from her right shoulder to the left side of her waist being dark blue while the one from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist was white. Her gloves were black on the palms but light blue on the fingers and back of the hand. Her helmet was light blue with the front having the design of a kraken. The kraken had cyan eyes, with the tentacles extending to the sides of the head with the bottom of the body functioning as a visor.

A black belt hung from her waist, a large cavity in her belt buckle and a sheath on the left side. Her shoes were black on the bottom and sides but light blue on top. Rina plugged the Rift Closer into the cavity on her belt.

"The Water World! KrakenRanger!" the newly identified KrakenRanger cracked her knuckles.

"She transformed!" The young man pointed, his eyes widened in surprise.

KrakenRanger got into a ready stance as it started to drizzle.

* * *

Elsewhere, an older woman watched a screen, the fight between KrakenRanger and the Peasants on it. The older woman wore white robes over an orange shirt and black pants. An orange symbol was printed on the robe over where her heart would be. She had pale white skin and sky blue eyes.

Beside her, a man who looked only a bit younger than her watched with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a white jacket that had no logo on it. Underneath the jacket was a black jumpsuit. His skin was dark blue and he had a blue left eye and a red right eye.

The older woman turned her attention to the young man in red, who was hiding. _Who is that?_

* * *

The Peasants aimed their guns at KrakenRanger. In response, she reached to the sheath on her belt and pulled out a gun. The gun was white with a triangle shape on either side, the triangle shape having a black outline. The trigger was painted blue and there was a slot on the gun that looked similar to the cavity on KrakenRanger's belt.

KrakenRanger jumped into the air to avoid the blasts from the Peasants. She aimed her gun at them and pulled the trigger repeatedly, blue bolts of energy firing out and striking at the Peasants. Each of the ones hit by the energy bolts fell to the ground, with the places they were hit in being exposed to reveal circuitry.

When she landed, she sprung forwards. She lashed out with a kick towards a Peasant, striking it in the chest and knocking it to the ground. Turning in place, she aimed her gun at another while pulling the trigger again.

KrakenRanger continued to spin in place while pulling the trigger of her gun as she was ducking and dodging out of the way of every shot from the Peasants.

KrakenRanger jumped at a Peasant and kicked it in the head. When she landed she spun around to kick at another. Her gun found itself pointed in the face of a Peasant with a bolt of blue energy flying out of it.

The numbers of the Peasants thinned considerably with each attack until KrakenRanger blasted the last one in the head.

After that, she turned to Gold Knight with her gun pointed at him. However, her finger wasn't resting on the trigger.

"It's over! Just come peacefully!" she called to him as the rain started to come down harder.

"Please. You honestly think just one of you can handle me?" Gold Knight taunted while drawing a sword.

There was a flash of lightning in the distance, something the young man in red caught onto.

"Just stop and-" KrakenRanger didn't finish as there was a loud rumbling noise in the distance. She looked to the source and in that second of distraction, Gold Knight rushed at her then struck her across the chest.

"Did she really just get distracted by thunder? Does she not have it where she's from?" the young man said aloud.

KrakenRanger fell back from the strike and turned back to Gold Knight only to get hit backwards again. She raised her gun up again to fire but the weapon was knocked out of her hands and onto the ground. Before she could do anything else, Gold Knight swung again. This time, however, KrakenRanger was able to duck under the attack and jab at his stomach.

It hardly affected Gold Knight, who took the attack and swung at her again. It missed but that didn't stop him from repeatedly trying again.

The young man in red watched this happen before he looked down at the gun KrakenRanger dropped. After a moment, he rushed forward and grabbed it.

"Rina! Get out of the way!" he called.

KrakenRanger turned to him and quickly complied.

Gold Knight looked only for a blue bolt of energy to hit him in the head. He stumbled backwards while clutching his head in pain. "Why you-!" he growled.

"Okay. Not my best idea." The young man gulped.

* * *

The older woman from before narrowed her eyes as she watched the scene before her. _He can use a Rift Striker without being drained? Then that must mean…_

"Mars" she spoke up. "Send him a Rift Closer."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Mrs. Venus?" her associate, Mars, asked.

"Of course not, but it's the best option we've got right now" Mrs. Venus responded. She raised her thumb to her lips and bit down on the nail. _I'm putting my faith in you stranger, don't let me down._

* * *

The young man fell onto his back and narrowly avoided Gold Knight's sword swing. He rolled to the right as Gold Knight stabbed downwards. The gun fell out of his hands.

 _This was a really bad idea!_ He thought.

"Hang on!" KrakenRanger shouted at him.

"Thanks for the advice!" he called back sarcastically.

KrakenRanger tackled Gold Knight away. As the young man got to his feet, he heard a faint noise as a Rift opened in the air in front of him. An object fell out of it with the young man having to catch it. The Rift sealed itself.

The object that fell into the young man's hand was a Rift Closer.

"What the-" he didn't finish his thought when KrakenRanger rolled across the ground in front of him.

"Rina!" he called before noticing Gold Knight was running at them.

Without a moment's hesitation, he jumped in front of KrakenRanger and instinctively held out the arm holding the Rift Closer. Gold Knight swung his weapon.

The young man gripped the Rift Closer tighter in his hand, his thumb accidentally pressing down on the button. The Rift Closer opened just as Gold Knight's sword was about to strike it.

Faster than anyone could see, there was a flash as a bolt of lightning struck the young man in red. KrakenRanger and Gold Knight were blown backwards as a result.

"GRAAAAAAAAAH!" the young man screamed out.

Somehow, the lightning remained in place while a bright red light shone from inside of it.

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The bulky young man pulled out a Rift Closer and stared at it as it began rapidly beeping.

"What the heck?!" he said in surprise.

* * *

The pale young girl tilted her head in confusion as the Rift Closer she had beeped rapidly.

"It's never done this before. Is it a glitch or something?"

* * *

The wolf-like young man looked down at his Rift Closer as it continued with its beeping.

"It's going haywire…what kind of Rift was just opened to cause it to respond like this?"

* * *

Mrs. Venus continued to watch the young man in red be engulfed in the lightning bolt as one loud continuous rumble filled the area.

"Mrs. Venus! The power that this is giving off is off the charts!" Mars yelled. "I think that his death caused a Rift that could endanger that entire planet!"

Slowly, the lightning bolt could be seen turning bright red, Mrs. Venus smirking as a result.

"On the contrary, I think this planet's going to be much safer as a result of this Rift."

* * *

KrakenRanger got to her feet as the lightning bolt soon turned bright red. Her Rift Closer was in her hand. "The readings that I'm getting from this…what kind of Rift is this?!" she said aloud.

Before anything else could happen, a loud voice could be heard from inside of the lightning bolt.

 **World Bonded! Garuda!**

The lightning bolt was gone in the blink of an eye, revealing a charred ground with someone in the center of it and a large cloud of smoke surrounding them.

The young man was replaced by a figure in a primarily red suit that was black along his knees, elbows, wrists, ankles, stomach, and just under his waist. The red portions of his suit had designs over them that resembled feathers on his arms and legs. A pair of red wings hung from his back. On his chest were two large crisscrossing lines that resembled Rifts, with the one from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist being dark red while the one from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist was white. A black belt hung from his waist, a large cavity in the belt buckle and a sheath on the side. His shoes were black on the bottom and sides but red on top and they slightly resembled talons. His gloves were black on the palms but red on the fingers and back of the hand. His helmet was red with the front having the design of a humanoid figure with wings. The figure had gold eyes, with the wings extending to the sides of the head with the chest functioning as the visor and the bottom of the body extending to the chin of the helmet.

His right hand was outstretched still, the Rift Closer still opened, but now with a red center.

"…huh?" the figure realized he wasn't being shocked to death and looked around, confused. He took quick notice of his suit.

"W-wait a minute! When did I change?" he said.

"You…" KrakenRanger said aloud. "Bonded with the lightning of your planet…to become a RiftRanger?"

"I became a RiftRanger?" the figure said before nodding and placing the Rift Closer in his belt. "Given what this just said…I guess that makes me GarudaRanger, right?" GarudaRanger crossed his arms.

Gold Knight looked between the red and blue RiftRangers in shock. "Two of you?!"

"That's right." GarudaRanger cracked his neck. "And that just means you're going down quicker." He turned to KrakenRanger and walked over to her. He extended his hand out to her.

She grabbed his hand and picked herself up. "It can't be helped. We'll have to finish this guy off."

"Don't have to tell me twice." GarudaRanger ran at Gold Knight.

"H-hey!" KrakenRanger called after him.

GarudaRanger punched at Gold Knight. The attack made contact with his chest and sent him back. The next attack was a kick to the gut.

KrakenRanger picked up her gun from the ground and ran in to help her new ally. Jumping up, she fired at Gold Knight multiple times. Most of the attacks hit him with GarudaRanger jumping back. As soon as KrakenRanger landed, GarudaRanger lashed out with a punch.

"Can I borrow that for a moment?" he asked KrakenRanger.

"Huh? Oh, sure." The blue RiftRanger passed him the gun.

GarudaRanger looked over the gun. "Is there anything else I can do besides shoot? Wait, stupid question. It's a gun."

"It's also a knife."

"Wait what?"

KrakenRanger reached over and pressed a button down then folded the barrel up. The triangles on the sides folded over to cover the muzzle and reveal that underneath the triangles were multiple parallel lines colored red, blue, black, white, and yellow. The triangles combined together to form a small blade with a black edge.

GarudaRanger looked at either side of the knife in his hands. "Well I guess that does somehow make logical sense.

Switching the knife to a reverse grip, GarudaRanger ran to Gold Knight. He cut at his opponent multiple times then stabbed him. His wings flapped and allowed him to fly back with his hand still gripped tight on the knife.

"These things work?" GarudaRanger looked at the wings in surprise. While he was distracted, KrakenRanger took the knife back. She pulled the Rift Closer from her belt and plugged it into the slot on the knife then turned it 90 degrees to the left.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

A tiny rift opened above the Rift Closer with black and blue energy channeling itself into the blade. Water swirled around her feet. GarudaRanger stumbled back.

"Hit the button on your Rift Closer again for a finisher. Then rotate it 90 degrees to the right." KrakenRanger informed him, to which he did as she asked.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

Nearby, a streetlamp sparked, followed by more streetlamps sparking nearby as well. Electricity began to travel from the streetlamp and into GarudaRanger.

"I don't really get it, but let's get this guy!"

KrakenRanger darted forward.

 **Kraken Splash! Stun!**

Blue energy surged out of the knife to create a larger blade. She used that blade to strike at Gold Knight.

 **Garuda Zap! Drive!**

GarudaRanger's wings flapped, allowing him to fly into the air. The red RiftRanger began to spin in midair as electricity surged over him. The drill flew around in the air before flying through Gold Knight. Due to the villain being wet, he was electrified as he fell to the ground.

KrakenRanger walked up to her fallen enemy while pulling her Rift Closer off her knife. She held it out to Gold Knight and held the button down.

 **Arrest!**

A ball of light flew out of the Rift Closer and hovered above Gold Knight. It stretched out into a light that connected to his wrists before shortening. The light died down to reveal that handcuffs had taken their place.

Another press of the button on the Rift Closer and Gold Knight turned into a ball of light that flew into the Rift Closer. KrakenRanger nodded and closed the Rift Closer's panels. Her suit turned back into water and black energy that moved into a Rift that opened above the closed Rift Closer.

GarudaRanger pulled the Rift Closer from his belt and closed it as well, only his suit faded away.

"Well, that was exciting." The young man in red said.

"I'll say. Still, you became a RiftRanger so quickly and easily. I'm amazed; normally it takes a lot for that to happen." Rina said.

"I did get struck by lightning"

"Okay I guess that counts for a little."

Rina's Rift Closer began ringing, causing her to look down at it. "Oh, it's Mrs. Venus. I think she wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

"She's our boss." Rina explained. "I'll tell more about you in my report. Oh! That reminds me, what's your name?"

"My name?" the young man blinked. "Just…call me…M"

"Em-oo? Your nickname is Emu?"

"What? No, M…actually, Emu sounds better, let's go with that."

Rina simply nodded. "So, let's get going, shall we?"

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu and Rina sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, the young man sitting down while Rina was on her knees.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** GarudaRanger and KrakenRanger could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch while KrakenRanger seemed to be a bit too cautious.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** The two both stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The two ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** The young man with the wolf-like appearance jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** The winged young woman flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** The bulky young man ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** It cut to a shot of all five running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** The five were shown alongside their RiftRanger forms.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and the pale girl glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** The wolf-like boy and the bulky young man glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by Emu and Rina running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, a giant garuda-like machine flying above them while a giant kraken-like machine was swimming with them nearby.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist as KrakenRanger snapped her fingers.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** The two continued running as the RiftRangers and giant machiens stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** They jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air with Rina laughing.


	2. Rift 2

Rift 2: The Ranger World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Emu closed the door behind him. In the middle of the hotel room, Rina looked around before sitting on the bed.

"So you live here?" she asked.

"Yeah. Just for a short bit of time though. So how does this work?" Emu walked further into the room while crossing his arms.

"Since this is a secure room, all we need to do is establish a connection." Rina pulled out her Rift Closer.

"So…this…Mrs. Venus…what would you say about her?"

"She's a good boss. And it's just a routine set of questions that she needs to know, just like who you are, have you committed any felonies, why we should choose you to be a permanent member of our squad." Rina failed to notice Emu stiffening at the "felony" portion of the statement. "But since you've already been given a Rift Closer you should be fine"

"And the rest of your team?"

Rina looked up at that to think. "Well, Forrest is kind of a cynical and serious guy, Horn is kind of a sensitive idiot, and Fea is a hyperactive and impatient girl. Then there's Mars, but he's more of Mrs. Venus's secretary and not an actual RiftRanger."

"Anything else?"

"Aside from a few rivals, nope."

"Wait, rivals?"

Emu's question went unanswered when Rina held her Rift Closer up.

"Done! Let's get going!"

A Rift opened in the air in the middle of the room. Rina grabbed Emu and dragged him through the Rift.

* * *

 **Narration: The Universe is an infinitely large space. So much that multiple forces have formed to keep the balance of the Universe safe. And now, four officers of one of those forces will join together with one human to save the Universe from a new threat!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers traveled through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with PegasusRanger's wings, MinotaurRanger's horns, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all five as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu's voice can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** The pale young man in black grasped a coin in his hand tightly. Then, the girl in white was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** The bulky young man in yellow was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, an older woman was seen doing paperwork while looking rather frustrated. A younger man walked up to her while placing a cup of something on the table.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers along with Maid and Hand were shown inside their base. The five got into different positions as lines began to fill the screen.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The five RiftRangers pulled out their transformation devices and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with lines opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** The GarudaRanger swung his lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** The KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her large gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** The black RiftRanger struck at multiple Peasants with two katanas.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** The white RiftRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an energy arrow from her bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** The yellow RiftRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** Five giant robots were seen before the next shot was a larger robot that looked to be their combined form.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five RiftRangers were shown together with a close up shown of them one after the other.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The five giant robots flew away from a line in the air then combined into their giant robot form once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of their mecha.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Rina fell from the Rift and landed on her own two feet.

"UWAH!" Emu called out as he fell flat on his face.

The Rift closed behind them.

"Welcome to our base" Mrs. Venus said from her position at the table.

Emu sat up to get a good look at the new place he was in.

The room was almost entirely white with some parts being orange and gold. The table Mrs. Venus was at was orange and had seven chairs around it. There were several papers on the table in front of her along with some kind of writing utensil. Across from where Mrs. Venus was sitting there was a large screen and in between the table and the screen there was a couch. There was one door on each wall but one wall in particular had a hallway leading off somewhere else.

Next to Mrs. Venus was Mars, who was standing there patiently. Emu made eye contact with Mars for a few seconds before turning away. Mars narrowed his eyes after he turned away.

"Hi Mrs. Venus." Rina greeted. "I'm going to go transfer the criminal we arrested to Planet 0 and fill out the report."

"Go ahead Rina. Mars, go with her incase she needs help. I'm going to talk to our new…" Mrs. Venus paused as she looked Emu up and down. "…friend."

"Yes, Mrs. Venus." Mars bowed. Rina patted Emu on the shoulder and gave him a small grin before going into the hallway with Mars following.

Emu looked to Mrs. Venus with an unsure look. "What is this place?"

"Did you miss the part where I welcomed you to our base?" Mrs. Venus picked up her writing utensil and started flipping through the papers. "Please, sit down." She pointed to the chair in front of her.

Emu complied, pulling out the chair and sitting in it.

"So, tell me more about yourself. Start with a name"

"…call me Emu." Emu said. Mrs. Venus started to write stuff down on the papers.

"I'm a young adult from my planet. I was actually quite famous from where I'm from, being a part of the-"

"And your planet is the 385th Earth, correct?"

"Three hundred and what now?" Emu's raised an eyebrow.

"There are multiple Earth's, Emu. Due to some kind of thing with time and space there are hundreds, if not thousands of Earth's out there, with most having some kind of importance to the universe. But enough about that, cause that's obviously going to go nowhere." Mrs. Venus stopped writing and looked at Emu. "Tell me your real name."

"Why is that important?" Emu said.

"If we're going to hire you we need to know all the important things. Don't lie about anything and I'll determine your worth from there."

Emu swallowed but opened his mouth to speak.

* * *

Elsewhere, Prince watched with a bored expression as GarudaRanger and KrakenRanger fought Gold Knight. Next to him, Maid watched with her eyes full of interest. Princess on the other hand seemed wary as she watched the footage.

"Why are we watching this, Master?" he groaned.

The screen changed to show a silhouette. "Because my advance force was defeated so easily. I wish to inform my Queen that things may go badly and I may have to resort to more than violence if this resistance continues."

"Are you sure that's wise, Master?" Princess asked.

"Yes I am."

"Don't fail us, Master. It wouldn't do well for you to-"

"Enough, Prince. Master took the time to speak with us over such an important matter, do not be so rude to him." Queen interrupted. "Shall I send in Maid or Hand to help assist?"

Maid winced as her name was mentioned.

"That will not be necessary. I can handle a few measly Rift Guardians." The screen vanished.

* * *

"Well, that's certainly an interesting story." Mrs. Venus admitted, leaning back in her chair. "So that clears up history and the past felonies but I will have to cross reference this Sh-"

"Just…call me Emu." Emu interrupted her before she could say his name. "So why exactly was I picked to be a Rift Guardian?"

Mrs. Venus set her utensil down. "To be honest, Emu, Rift Guardians are only able to open Rifts due to a certain mysterious energy. This energy fills very few living beings, and those with this energy are selected and interviewed to determine if they deserve to be Rift Guardians. You happen to be one of the beings and by my calculations, you have some of the highest amounts of Rift Energy inside of you that I've ever seen."

"And this…Rift Energy, does it ever burn out?"

"No. You can use it up to open Rifts and such but it always regenerates. And it does have its perks. Ever notice anything like fast rates of healing, increased speed and strength, or increased mental capabilities?"

Emu shook his head.

Mrs. Venus wrote that down. "Curious. People usually show some kind of symptom. No matter. So I'm going to ask you a question pertaining to your Rift Energy. Are you aware of anything recent that could have possibly gave you Rift Energy or have you had it since birth. A bit of a stupid question so I'll just write that-"

"There was one recent incident." Emu spoke up. "I was a part of some kind of experiment. I think that may have to do with it."

"Are you positive?"

Emu nodded.

Mrs. Venus shrugged. "Alright. Any questions before we move on?"

Emu shook his head.

* * *

"God I hate paperwork." Rina groaned.

Currently, she sat at a table in a different room with Mars sitting across from her.

"I know. You all do. Mrs. Venus especially." Mars responded.

"If only Emu could help me with this. He was there too so it stands to reason he should add in his own stuff. Why does this have to be so hard to fill out?"

"Mrs. Venus has to accept him first."

Rina bit the inside of her cheek and got back to paperwork, sighing.

Mars chuckled then got up to go get a drink.

He started to fill up a cup with something from a machine while the door opened, a person walking in

"Hey guys, I'm back." The bulky young man in yellow greeted.

"Hey Horn." Rina waved.

"How'd your visit go?" Horn asked, sitting down next to her.

"Well I think I may have found the fifth member of our squad." Rina informed with a grin.

"Eh?! Really?!" Horn grinned excitedly. "Who is it?"

"This guy named Emu. He's a resident of the planet we visited and he seems like a really cool guy. Right now he's being interviewed by Mrs. Venus to determine if he's to be a new member. But the way it's going I think he'll be a definite Rift Guardian."

The two heard Mars scoff before taking a sip of his drink.

"What's up Mars?" Horn asked.

"I looked into his eyes. I didn't like what I saw." Mars looked at them.

"What did you see?" Rina put her writing utensil down.

"I can't tell you. But I'll just let you know that he's not exactly someone I see as a candidate for a Rift Guardian."

Horn put his hand to his chin. "Well, Mrs. Venus is the one deciding who joins. Maybe she'll let him join."

"She'll have to get my opinion first."

"You're being unnecessarily harsh Mars. You haven't even met him." Rina quickly reminded Mars. "Your intuition has been wrong before."

"I'm just saying." Mars defended himself.

Rina scowled at him and made to say something else when Horn stopped her. "Hey, hey Rina, why don't we go spar?"

Rina nodded and gathered up her paperwork before leaving with Horn.

"Don't blame me when he turns out to not be worthy." Mars remarked after they left.

* * *

Back on the planet, a Rift opened up with multiple Peasants dropping from it. Another Knight fell from it, this one being silver.

Silver Knight gestured forward, signaling to the Peasants.

* * *

Horn and Rina were barely getting into their spar when their Rift Closers began beeping.

"An open Rift?" Horn said.

"Let's go check it out." Rina suggested.

"If you're going, take your friend with you."

The two turned to find Mrs. Venus standing with Emu. "I'll give him a chance to prove himself. Go take him for a trial run. I've messaged Fea and Forrest to meet you guys down there."

Rina grinned. "Okay. Shall we get going?" she asked Horn and Emu.

Horn gave a thumbs up while Emu nodded.

"And Emu." Mrs. Venus said before they left. "Remember what I said."

"What did she mean by that?" Rina asked as they walked out the door.

"Don't worry about it."

Mars walked in a few seconds after they left.

"You sure adding him to the team is a good idea?"

Mrs. Venus didn't answer.

* * *

Horn and Rina stepped out of the Rift and onto the sidewalk. Emu fell face first out of it again.

Rina helped him back up. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it eventually."

The three started running down the street until they came across several Peasants and Silver Knight.

"Didn't we arrest that guy already?" Rina pointed out.

"No, I think he's just a look-alike of the other guy." Emu replied.

"So, you guys are the Rift Guardians who defeated my comrade?" Silver Knight asked. "You don't look like much."

"You've opened an illegal Rift that was left unopened. Please put your hands where we can see them so we can take you in." Rina called to him.

"Don't be ridiculous. I am Silver Knight. I will do what I please. Peasants." Silver Knight snapped his fingers.

The Peasants got ready.

Rina turned to Emu. "Emu, you good to go?"

Emu pulled out his Rift Closer and looked down at it. "Yeah. Let's go."

Rina and Horn pulled out their Rift Closers as well.

The three held them up. "Open The Rift!" They pressed the buttons. Their Closers opened with the inside colored differently for each of them. "Connect The Worlds!" They threw their right arms to the right so the lines were vertical. A Rift formed along the lines of Rina and Horn's Rift Closers.

 **Rift Opened!**

 **Garuda! World Connected!**

 **Kraken! World Connected!**

 **Minotaur! World Connected!**

Water surged from Rina's Rift and swirled around her to form her suit. Rocks and dirt began surging from Horn's Rift while swirling around him and forming a suit. For Emu, however, lightning rained down from the sky and enveloped him for a few seconds to form his suit.

Horn was now in a primarily yellow suit that was black along his knees, elbows, wrists, ankles, stomach, and just under his waist. The yellow portions of his suit had designs over them that resembled muscles on his arms and legs. On his chest were two large crisscrossing lines that resembled Rifts, with the one from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist being dark yellow while the one from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist was white. A black belt hung from his waist, a large cavity in the belt buckle and a sheath on the side. His shoes were black on the bottom and sides but yellow on top. His gloves were black on the palms but yellow on the fingers and back of the hand with the knuckles having small blades jutting out. His helmet was yellow with the front having the design of a Minotaur. The Minotaur had red eyes, with the body functioning as a visor.

The three plugged their Rift Closers into their belts.

"The Water World! KrakenRanger!" KrakenRanger punched her fist into her left hand then held her right hand outwards while her left was held in a fist by her head.

"The Rock World! MinotaurRanger!" MinotaurRanger flexed his arms then kneeled down while punching the ground.

"Uh…GarudaRanger…" GarudaRanger quietly said before he held his right arm in the air while his left was at his waist.

"Eh? Is that it?" MinotaurRanger asked GarudaRanger in surprise.

"Is what it?"

"Is that all you're going to do? I thought you'd have more of a pose than that."

"A pose and roll call seems highly impractical. Why on Earth would I have one?"

"Why wouldn't you have one?"

"Did you miss the part where I said it's highly impractical?"

KrakenRanger simply stared at the two of them throughout this. She then sighed and pulled her gun off of the side of her belt. "Can we focus on this later? We're kind of in the middle of something."

"Oh…sorry" MinotaurRanger apologized then got into a ready stance.

GarudaRanger sighed then got into a ready stance of his own.

The three charged at the Peasants, who charged at them as well.

* * *

Elsewhere, the wolf-like young man and the girl in white watched the three begin to fight.

"Hey…shouldn't we help them?" the girl asked.

The wolf-like young man didn't answer, his focus trained on GarudaRanger.

* * *

GarudaRanger ducked under a punch then jumped back to avoid getting hit by a sword. His wings flapped and allowed him to fly out of the way of the bullets fired at him from some of the other Peasants. His hand reached to the side of his belt and pulled the gun out of its holster.

 _She really gave me a weapon like this? Guess I shouldn't complain._ GarudaRanger internally chuckled.

He aimed the gun at the Peasants and pulled the trigger, red energy shooting out from the weapon and hitting most of them.

He then landed and folded the handle up. As the knife formed he spun the weapon into a reverse grip.

GarudaRanger drove his knife into the chest of a Peasant then spun around and buried it into the head of another.

Pulling the blade out, he spun around and drove his leg into the stomach of another.

Nearby, KrakenRanger could be seen lashing out at several enemies with kicks. She jumped up and drove a knee into the chin of a Peasant. When she landed, she rolled forward to get into a kneeling position.

She drew her gun and aimed it at the chest of a Peasant before pulling the trigger. The energy bolt shot out and knocked it backwards into another Peasant. She then sprung upwards and kicked it in the stomach to knock the two over into more Peasants.

In the distance, MinotaurRanger could be seen headbutting a Peasant. As it fell over, he turned in place and slammed his fist into the chest of another before he punched one standing next to it in the face.

He blocked the blade of one with his wrist then slugged it across its helmet. After this he extended his arms and roared while charging forward. He pushed through a small crowd, knocking them to the ground.

Back with GarudaRanger, the red RiftRanger knocked one last Peasant to the ground before he turned to Silver Knight.

"That just leaves you!" he held up his knife and ran at his new enemy.

He slashed and stabbed at Silver Knight, who blocked his attacks repeatedly. Silver Knight attempted to swing at GarudaRanger only for GarudaRanger to use his wings to fly backwards. He converted his weapon to gun mode and blasted at Silver Knight. Silver Knight blocked the attacks when KrakenRanger jumped in and kicked at him.

KrakenRanger pulled out her gun and aimed it at Silver Knight.

The red and blue Rangers pulled the triggers on their weapons, red and blue energy shooting from their respective guns to strike Silver Knight in the chest.

"I think it's time we finish him!" GarudaRanger landed next to KrakenRanger and grabbed his Rift Closer.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

"Wait, Emu. We can settle this without having to harm him any more." KrakenRanger said to him.

"Really?" GarudaRanger put his gun down as electricity from nearby streetlights and electric store signs started to arch into the barrel of his gun and his body. "Okay, go for it. I'm not the best at talking people down."

KrakenRanger stepped forward.

"We can stop this now. Please just come along peacefully and we won't have to fight."

"Hmph. A pacifist? I despise your type." Silver Knight turned away from them.

"My-my type?" KrakenRanger said in surprise. "I have no idea what you mean-"

"Fighting is the only way that we will accomplish our goals."

"We?" KrakenRanger and GarudaRanger repeated in unison.

Silver Knight drew a sword and slashed at the two, an energy wave launching out.

"Look out!" GarudaRanger raised his arm up to shove KrakenRanger out of the way, not noticing that he had electricity surging through his arm.

"AH!" KrakenRanger cried out at being shocked, falling to the ground as her body started to jerk around erratically.

GarudaRanger turned just as he pulled the trigger.

 **Garuda Zap! Stun!**

A bolt of lightning fired out and struck the energy wave to cause an explosion. GarudaRanger ignored that in favor of moving down to KrakenRanger's side.

"Rina! Did…did I shock you?" he looked down at his hand to see a little spark of electricity.

"He got away." MinotaurRanger walked up to them.

GarudaRanger looked up to see that Silver Knight had vanished.

* * *

"Well that was a mess." Mrs. Venus said while using a spoon to mix a powder into her drink.

Currently, Emu, Rina, and Horn were back at their base with Mrs. Venus and Mars.

"But I understand it was an accident so I'm not going to punish you. Still, having an incident where you hurt an ally even though you're not a Rift Guardian? That's gotta suck." Mrs. Venus shrugged then drank her drink.

Emu looked ashamed as he turned to Rina, who was sitting at the table.

"I'm really sorry, Rina." He apologized.

"Don't worry about it Emu. It was just a shock. If anything it was a good learning experience." Rina patted him on the shoulder.

"Still. Silver Knight got away." Horn sighed.

"Mrs. Venus." Mars said to get her attention. "Perhaps this will get you to rethink your decision of recruitment."

"Mars, telling me not to do it just makes me want to do it more." Mrs. Venus responded then drank from her cup again.

"That's what's upsetting about my job." Mars sighed.

"Then transfer. I hear Andromeda's team may need someone with your skill." Mrs. Venus told him.

Mars stopped talking.

"Andromeda? Who's that?" Emu asked.

"The boss of another team like ours. You'll probably meet him eventually." Horn stated.

"Anyways, you guys are going to have to go back down to take care of that Rift that was left behind-"

"There's no need." Another male voice interrupted.

The wolf-like young man and the girl in white entered. "We took care of the Rift while they were fighting." The wolf-like young man said.

"Oh. Good job. That just leaves Silver Knight." Mrs. Venus blinked.

"I'll handle it." The wolf-like young man turned to leave.

"Forrest! You just got here! You can't just leave!" Rina called after him.

"Are those real wolf ears and fur?" Emu asked curiously.

Forrest turned to Emu and gave him a cold look. Just as he started to walk towards him, Rina tried to get between them.

"It's fine Forrest, I'm sure he didn't mean-" she was pushed aside by Forrest, who stood in front of Emu and looked down at him.

"So you're the new candidate for our team?" Forrest looked Emu up and down.

"Yeah. I-I'm Emu. And I guess your name is Forrest, right?" Emu looked up at Forrest, slightly intimidated.

Forrest didn't reply.

"Well it's nice to meet you." Emu held his hand out.

Forrest stepped back as if Emu was about to strike him. The others reacted in the exact same manner except for Rina and Mrs. Venus.

"What?" Emu looked around confused before looking down at his hand. "Oh, right. Alien cultures. Sorry. I was trying to initiate a handshake." He explained. "I'm not actually trying to hurt you."

"And someone as naïve as him deserves to be a Rift Guardian?" Mars whispered to Mrs. Venus, but it was heard by Emu and Forrest.

Forrest turned and walked away with the girl in white following after him. "I'll take care of that Silver Knight guy."

"I'll get you a refill, Mrs. Venus" Mars left.

Emu lowered his arm as Rina walked up. "A handshake? What's that?"

Emu looked at her. "Well, it's mainly a respectful way to say hello and goodbye to someone. There are other ways to use it though."

"Really? How so?"

"Rina." Mrs. Venus groaned. "Worry about investigating later. Right now worry about tracking Silver Knight. I doubt that even with his enhanced smell that Forrest him on his own."

Rina nodded and took out her Rift Closer before getting to work.

"What did Mars mean by what he said?" Emu spoke up.

"Don't worry about it. He's always been a bit of a jerk to the new guys." Rina said to him.

"But he said I was naïve. But he doesn't know me and I don't think we've talked to each other."

"He knows a lot about you already though." Mrs. Venus said. "Mars has the ability to look into someone's mind by making eye contact. I guess you two made eye contact and he got a good look into your mind. So whatever he saw he doesn't like."

Emu looked down at the table, thinking about something. "He doesn't like what he's saw…"

"Emu? What did he see? Was it something really private?" Horn asked.

"Well…yeah. I'm going to go talk to him." Emu turned and went to follow after Mars.

Mrs. Venus rolled her eyes. "Great. Just what I needed. Someone with something to hide talking to someone who can find out information through eye contact."

"Emu has something to hide? What is it?" Rina asked.

Mrs. Venus raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care?"

"I…I just thought…" Rina started to say.

"Whatever he's hiding isn't something I can tell you. He has to tell you it himself. He probably will eventually."

* * *

Mars placed the drink on top of the platter along with two packets of a black powder.

He picked up the platter and walked to the door. It opened and he stepped out into a white and beige hallway and started to walk down it when Emu wandered in.

"Oh, Mars. I wanted to talk to you."

Mars sighed but kept walking past Emu.

"Look, I know that you can see inside my head and I wanted to talk to you about that." Emu followed after him.

"Don't worry, sir." Mars replied. "I'll keep your secret for you."

"That's it though. I'm not trying to get you to keep any secrets for me. I wanted to talk to you about us working together." Emu clarified.

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, not working together as in fighting together. I meant as in if we're going to be seeing a lot of each other if I'm accepted into the team."

"That in itself isn't likely."

"I know that. But still, it's not going to be a good thing if we can't get along."

"We don't have to get along. If anything I don't really have to talk to you at all. Good day." Mars said.

"But, Mars-"

"I said good day." Mars kept walking as Emu stopped. That didn't mean Emu stopped trying though.

"I know why you don't like me, Mars. I get the feeling I know what you saw in my head." Emu admitted.

Mars narrowed his eyes.

"But…there's nothing I can do to change my past. I can only…I can only make up for what I've done and move on with the intent to become better. I am not a good candidate to be a Rift Guardian, much less a RiftRanger. But maybe if I keep fighting…then I can be worthy." Emu had a small smile.

Mars turned to Emu.

A few seconds later, Rina came out into the hallway. "Emu, come on, we found Silver Knight."

* * *

Silver Knight and a group of Peasants walked through a city, citizens running off but some failing to run far when the Peasants reached them to attack.

From the side, GarudaRanger, KrakenRanger, and MinotaurRanger fell from a Rift. GarudaRanger did manage to land on his feet but then tripped and fell onto his face.

"Really getting tired of that." he said while climbing to his feet.

"The Water World! KrakenRanger!" KrakenRanger announced while drawing her gun.

"The Rock World! MinotaurRanger!" MinotaurRanger flexed his muscles dramatically as he prepared to charge.

"GarudaRanger." GarudaRanger simply said while converting his gun to knife mode.

"Emu…" MinotaurRanger whined.

"Shut up." GarudaRanger replied before his wings flapped and he took off towards the Peasants and Silver Knight.

KrakenRanger patted MinotaurRanger on the shoulder before they ran into the fighting as well.

GarudaRanger landed on the ground while driving his blade towards Silver Knight. The Knight avoided the stabs repeatedly until one did make contact. GarudaRanger pulled the trigger on accident, electricity surging down the blade and into Silver Knight.

"GAH!" Silver Knight stumbled backwards and got onto one knee.

"Surprised? So am I, because that was actually an accident." GarudaRanger looked down at his knife but looked back up and charged again.

KrakenRanger, meanwhile, was blasting at the Peasants around her while also lashing out with kicks. She ducked out of the way of multiple slashes while retaliating with punches and kicks but primarily kicks.

She jumped over a Peasant while shooting it in the head. Upon landing she drove her fist into the face of another then spun around and planted her heel on the neck of a Peasant to knock it down.

MinotaurRanger on the other hand was driving his fists into Peasants to knock them down easily. He charged at a large crowd of them and easily ran through them.

Back with GarudaRanger, the red RiftRanger was attacking Silver Knight and barely giving him time to retaliate.

"Enough!" Silver Knight gave off a burst of energy that sent GarudaRanger stumbling backwards. "If you think you are going to defeat me, you are w-AGH!" Silver Knight was shut up by a bolt of white energy hitting him in the mouth.

"Got him!" a female voice excitedly said.

GarudaRanger turned to where the bolt came from to find two new armored figures standing in the distance.

One figure had the body of a young man and was equipped with a primarily black suit that was violet along his knees, elbows, wrists, ankles, stomach, and just under his waist. The black portions of his suit had designs over them that resembled fur. On his chest were two large crisscrossing lines that resembled Rifts, with the one from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist being violet while the one from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist was white. A black belt hung from his waist, an opened Rift Closer with a black line in the belt buckle and a sheath on the side. His shoes were violet on the bottom and sides but black on top and they slightly resembled claws. His gloves were violet on the palms but black on the fingers and back of the hand with claws jutting out of the fingers. His helmet was black with the front having the design of a werewolf. The figure had red eyes, with the body facing to the right with the middle forming the visor

His female partner, the one who shot the enemy was equipped with a primarily white suit that was black along her knees, elbows, wrists, ankles, stomach, and just under her waist. The white portions of her suit had designs over them that resembled feathers on her arms and fur on her legs. On her chest were two large crisscrossing lines that resembled Rifts, with the one from her right shoulder to the left side of her waist being gray while the one from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist was white. A black belt hung from her waist, an opened Rift Closer with a white line in the belt buckle and a sheath on the side. Her gloves were black on the palms but white on the fingers and back of the hand. Her helmet was white with the front having the design of a Pegasus. The Pegasus had silver eyes, with the wings extending to the sides of the head and the body functioning as a visor.

"The Void World. WerewolfRanger." The black RiftRanger stated.

"The Sky World! PegasusRanger!" The white RiftRanger called.

GarudaRanger stared at them in surprise and confusion as they approached him.

They stood near him while staring at Silver Knight.

"RiftRangers? Thanks for the help." GarudaRanger thanked them.

"Don't thank us. We're just here to help Rina and Horn." WerewolfRanger stated.

"If you want to be here then please stay out of our way." PegasusRanger requested.

"Eh?"

"More RiftRangers?" Silver Knight hissed. He raised his hand up. "I don't have time for nuisances like you." Silver Knight raised his sword up and slashed into the air, a Rift forming from the slash. "My Queen, I ask that I may have the assistance of Gigant Peasants."

"Queen?" GarudaRanger stated.

Energy flowed from inside of the Rift into the Peasants KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger were still fighting.

They suddenly stopped and glowed a silver color before growing in size continually.

KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger got out of the way as the Peasants finished growing, now several dozen meters tall. As they were growing, Silver Knight turned to the Rift and jumped into it just before it closed, escaping.

"What the-how are we supposed to fight those things?!" GarudaRanger shouted.

WerewolfRanger glanced at him while pulling his Rift Closer off his belt. He pressed the button on the side then spoke into it.

"Rift Legend, come here."

PegasusRanger and MinotaurRanger did the same thing.

"Rift Legend, come here!"

In the sky, three large Rifts opened up. One was white colored, the second a black color, and the third a yellow color.

A figure fell out of each Rift.

Out of the white Rift was a giant black Pegasus with white on its chest and stomach along with its upper face, hooves, and the feathers on its wings.

 **Pegasus! Legend!**

Out of the black Rift was a giant Werewolf that had a black body with violet patches of fur on its hands and feet and a green chest.

 **Werewolf! Legend!**

Out of the yellow Rift was a giant Minotaur with a black body and a yellow chest with yellow coloration on its hands and feet.

 **Minotaur! Legend!**

"What are those things?" GarudaRanger pointed.

"Our Rift Legends. Normally we don't need these unless we face off against giants." KrakenRanger explained.

MinotaurRanger, PegasusRanger, and WerewolfRanger had Rifts open in front of them, to which they stepped into them and vanished. The Rift Legends that corresponded to them began to move as if controlled.

They started to move towards the Gigant Peasants and began fighting them.

"Do all of the Rift Guardians have giant mythical creatures under their control?" GarudaRanger asked.

"Just the elite members, also known as the RiftRangers." KrakenRanger explained.

"Then why aren't you up there?"

"Someone needs to keep you company"

GarudaRanger's Rift Closer started beeping, resulting in him taking it off of his belt and looking at it. "What's happening?"

"Someone's calling you." KrakenRanger explained. "Hold the button down."

GarudaRanger pressed the button.

"No, don't press it, hold it down."

KrakenRanger reached out and held the button down for a second longer than he did.

"Oi. New guy. Use this." Mars's voice came through the Rift Closer.

"Huh?" GarudaRanger and KrakenRanger said in unison.

All of a sudden, a large red Rift formed in the sky.

 **Garuda! Legend!**

From the Rift, what appeared to be a giant Garuda flew out before the Rift closed. The figure had a black body with red colors highlighting the sides. It had red along its feet, hands, the feathers along its wings, its chest, and beak.

"Eh? You've already got a Rift Legend? It took me two Earth weeks to get mine and you've already got one before two days? That's a bit unfair." KrakenRanger said to her partner while taking off her Rift Closer. "Rift Legend, come here!"

This time, a blue Rift opened. Out of it fell a black Kraken with blue lines running up and down its tentacles and a blue arrow with the arrow head being the top of its head.

 **Kraken! Legend!**

"So…that thing is mine?" GarudaRanger asked about the giant Garuda.

"That is correct." KrakenRanger answered.

"How does it work?"

"Plug your Rift Closer into the stand. The Rift Legend should react to your thoughts and work based off that."

Two Rifts opened up in front of them. KrakenRanger stepped into one and vanished. GarudaRanger followed her example.

* * *

GarudaRanger fell through his Rift and landed on a platform but stumbled and almost tripped.

"WHOA WHOA-Okay! Okay, I'm good." He managed to regain his balance before he fell and then looked around. He appeared to be in a black space that seemed to stretch on for miles. Next to him was a rectangular white stand with black lines running up and down the sides that reached to his waist and was about as thin as his arm. On top of the stand was a small cavity large enough for his Rift Closer. GarudaRanger took the Rift Closer off of his belt then plugged it into the stand. The black lines lit up a red color before the part connecting the stand to the platform extended, giving GarudaRanger more room to move.

The space around GarudaRanger started to light up to reveal the outside world, revealing he was inside of a spherical room. The platform that he was standing on was hovering in the middle of the room.

"Holy-okay this is really cool." He looked around. "So the head of this thing was facing…this way." He turned his body in one direction so that the stand with his Rift Closer was on his right and that he was facing the Gigant Peasants and the fighting. The eyes on his helmet lit up.

* * *

Garuda Legend's eyes lit up and its head started to move. It looked around almost curiously as its hands and feet also began to move.

* * *

GarudaRanger moved his arms around, Garuda Legend copying his movements exactly. He looked down then took one step forward. Somehow, his back foot slid backwards just as his moving foot hit the platform, keeping his body balanced on the platform. He tried to step forward again, resulting in his front foot now sliding to the back while his moving foot moved to the front and kept his body centered.

"This is trippy." GarudaRanger commented.

Then his Rift Closer started to beep, causing GarudaRanger to reach out and press the button to answer the call.

"Uh, hi?"

"Emu, are you okay?" KrakenRanger's voice came through the Rift Closer.

"I'm extremely confused but I also really like this" GarudaRanger responded.

"Your Rift Legend responds to your movements and compensates for them. The same goes inversely. Since you have one similar to your own body, it'll be easy to figure out how to work it. And the platform you're on keeps your body centered on it as long as you're in there, so you can run but still stay on the platform, or fall to the ground but still stay on the platform. I'll have to explain the rest later, right now you need to join in on the fighting."

"Oh, right, sorry." GarudaRanger looked towards the Gigant Peasants.

* * *

Garuda Legend ran into the fighting. It ran past one of the Gigant Peasants just was Kraken Legend wrapped its tentacles around it then took it to the ground.

Garuda Legend punched at a Gigant Peasant that wasn't looking at it and knocked it to the ground. After that, it spun around and drove its heel into the cheek of another, sending it crashing into one of its allies.

Garuda Legend turned and blocked a punch from a Gigant Peasant but was hit across the back by another. As it fell to the ground, it stumbled forward while trying to grab something to break its fall.

* * *

"UWAGH!" GarudaRanger called out as he fell forward. His hands copied Garuda Legend. However, he stopped in midair as if hanging by something from his hands.

Looking up, he saw that Garuda Legend had managed to grab onto a building and had used it to catch itself.

"Huh." GarudaRanger said before a Gigant Peasant stepped on Garuda Legend's back and sent the red RiftRanger falling to his face on the platform.

* * *

Garuda Legend crashed into the ground with a Gigant Peasant's foot pressed into its back.

Then Minotaur Legend ran up and tackled the Gigant Peasant off of Garuda Legend.

Garuda Legend got to its feet then nodded at Minotaur Legend. Turning around, the red Rift Legend faced another Gigant Peasant.

 **Kraken Splash! Mega!**

Garuda Legend watched as Kraken Legend flew around the Gigant Peasant before spreading its tentacles. Blue beams of energy fired from its suction cups and covered the Gigant Peasant. When the energy died down, there was nothing left standing in its place.

 **Minotaur Smack! Mega!**

 **Pegasus Flap! Mega!**

Pegasus Legend extended its wings before flapping them, multiple Gigant Peasants sent flying as a result. Minotaur Legend ran at them with its arms outstretched. Its hands and horns were glowing a bright yellow color as it ran into its enemies. It grabbed onto the crowd and stopped before tossing them high into the air. They flew high into the air before exploding to leave nothing behind.

 **Werewolf Claw! Mega!**

Werewolf Legend howled then jumped at a Gigant Peasant. Its glowing claw drove into its chest then swung upwards to send the giant flying into atmosphere before exploding.

* * *

"Who names these attacks?" GarudaRanger shook his head then turned to the stand. "I think it was...this" He pressed the button on his Rift Closer and turned it 90 degrees to the left.

* * *

 **Garuda Zap! Mega!**

Electricity surged from Garuda Legend as its wings began flapping to lift it into the air.

Garuda Legend flew into the air then began spinning rapidly. The drill flew around until flying towards the last of the Gigant Peasants. It drove right into them and lifted them off the ground. The drill took them into the air higher and higher until it eventually left the atmosphere. As soon as it did, it spun faster and faster until driving through the robots.

The drill stopped spinning. Instead of exploding, the Gigant Peasants simply fell apart with their pieces separating into the thousands and flying off in multiple directions, floating off into the universe.

* * *

GarudaRanger fell onto his platform, dizzied and panting.

"Okay…that was intense." He commented while staring up. It took him a moment, but he realized eventually that he was staring into space. He sat up and looked around, seeing nothing around him but the Earth, rubble from the Gigant Peasants, and the stars.

"No…fucking…way." He laughed. "I'm…I'm in space! Holy shit! Holy fucking shit!" he stood up and looked around with excitement and wonder. He eventually looked towards the Earth, staring down at it and watching it slowly spin in place.

His Rift Closer started beeping. He answered it just as he saw Kraken Legend flying up to meet him.

"Emu, are you okay? What's going on?" KrakenRanger asked.

"I'm fine Rina. I'm just…taking it all in." GarudaRanger answered.

* * *

Emu sat in the base with Rina and Horn, a cup in his hand.

"So you've never seen space before?" Horn asked.

"No. We have the technology but I was never the person who they would let go into space." Emu explained.

"Really?" Rina asked. "Who do they let got into space then?"

"People who have the right training to do so. But I didn't think that just flying up there with my Garuda Legend would be so simple." Emu replied. He drank from his cup only to immediately spit what was in his mouth back into the cup. "What is that?"

"A kind of energy drink. Usually we drink it after battles to get our energy back up." Rina explained as the door to the room opened.

"Just get me some coffee and I'll be fine." Emu pushed the cup away.

Mars entered the room with a platter. "I'll take note of your suggestion."

"Oh, hey Mars." Horn greeted.

"Um, Mars. I have a question." Emu said.

"What is it, new guy?" Mars said.

"I thought you didn't like me. Why did you give me that big robot?"

"If you want to be worthy to be a Rift Guardian perhaps it would be best if you had the same ability to fight as the others. I may not like you but I can't hinder you." Mars picked the cup off the table and put it on the platter.

Mrs. Venus entered the room next and sat down at the table next to Emu.

"Would you like anything, Mrs. Venus?" Mars asked.

"Yup. You're going to have to pay up for using the experimental technology to give Emu his Rift Legend so early." Mrs. Venus calmly stated as she looked over her nails.

"W-what?" Mars sputtered. "But you told me I was free to do what I wished with that so you wouldn't have to worry about it!"

"Emu's still not a full member and you gave him a Rift Legend. We only give those to full time members." Mrs. Venus reminded him.

"Experimental technology?" Emu said.

"Yeah. A while back Mrs. Venus was gifted with experimental Rift Legend technology that could transform into anything you desire, but only for one permanent use. She didn't want it so she gave it to Mars. Apparently Mars used it for your Rift Legend and since the change is permanent it's yours now. But you're not actually supposed to have one." Rina explained.

"And Mars knows how much I hate paperwork. No doubt that I'll end up getting so much more for this than I would have if he had just been given it normally." Mrs. Venus glared at Mars.

Horn snorted.

"Oh you think that's funny, do you?" Mrs. Venus turned her attention to Horn.

"Wh-what? No, of course not!" Horn tried to defend himself.

Emu and Rina watched with amused stares as Mrs. Venus started to go off on Horn. Emu, however, narrowed his eyes at a thought and turned to Rina.

"Hey, Rina. Where are those other two guys who helped us?"

"Oh. Forrest doesn't really hang out with us often. And Fea, the white RiftRanger, hangs out with him a lot. So we won't really see a lot of either of them." Rina explained.

"Huh. Okay. Also, before Silver Knight escaped he called for someone named Queen. Do we know who that is?" Emu inquired.

"Queen? I've never heard of anyone like that. Maybe it's the leader of some gang with a fixation of royalty." Rina shrugged.

Emu nodded and looked down at the table, beginning to think about something.

 _Queen…Gold Knight…Silver Knight…and apparently an army of Peasants…why do I get the feeling it's going to get worse from here?_

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, and Horn sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down while Rina was on her knees.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** GarudaRanger, KrakenRanger, and MinotaurRanger could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch while KrakenRanger seemed to be a bit too cautious and MinotaurRanger hung from a branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, and Horn all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The three ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** It cut to a shot of all five running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** The five were shown alongside their RiftRanger forms.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Then Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by Emu, Rina, and Horn running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Minotaur Legend ran behind them.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, and Horn continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** Emu, Rina, and Horn jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air with Rina laughing and Horn kicking outwards.


	3. Rift 3

Rift 3: The Thieving World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Inside the throne room, Prince, Princess, and Hand watched as Queen sent energy into Silver Knight, who himself was crying out in pain as the energy covered him. Maid was next to Hand, but was averting her eyes from the scene before her.

Silver Knight fell to the ground while writhing in pain.

"Please your majesty! I swear I won't fail you again!" he cried.

"Do you honestly think saying that will work?" Prince stated with a bored tone.

"I must agree with my son here, Silver Knight. I granted your request to empower your forces and yet you came here through the same Rift."

"My Queen, I was just following orders!" Silver Knight pleaded.

"Many people have said those words to me and not often have they excused previous actions." Queen remarked.

"Silver Knight, please explain what you mean." Princess patiently said.

"Master's plan! I was following his orders!"

"Are you implying that Master has used me?" Queen asked with an interested tone.

"No implications about it." A deep voice answered.

A shadowy figure entered the room but didn't enter the light.

"Explain, Master." Queen ordered.

"I need Silver Knight around for the next part of my plan. I couldn't have him captured by the Rift Guardians like Gold Knight. My Knight Force is limited as it is and they all have set jobs. Gold Knight being captured complicated things and I cannot allow anymore complications to arise."

The room fell silent as this sunk in.

Queen eventually broke the silence. "Very well. Take him away. But do not ever again use me as you have."

Master bowed as Silver Knight scrambled out of the room. "As you wish, my Queen."

* * *

 **Narration: The Universe is an infinitely large space. So much that multiple forces have formed to keep the balance of the Universe safe. And now, four officers of one of those forces will join together with one human to save the Universe from a new threat!**

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all five as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Lastly, Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The five RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five were shown together with a close up shown of them one after the other.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

"…I'm just saying, can't the names of our attacks be something that actually makes logical sense?" Emu asked.

Currently, he and Rina were inside of the break room of the base, sitting across from each other while Mars could be seen in the background at a counter while preparing two separate meals.

"We're not trying to intimidate our enemies. The names are short and simple. Having them be something super serious would overcomplicate a lot of things." Rina explained.

"I don't think they'll be intimidated by an attack named "Pegasus Flap", Rina." Emu deadpanned.

"I don't see why we would be trying to intimidate them if our main goal is to arrest them."

"If we're arresting them won't intimidating them make it easier to arrest them? That way we won't have to fight."

"Okay, fair point." Rina nodded. "Still, it's a name for an attack. Rift Guardians are known for only being extremely violent when brought too far. Otherwise, we keep the peace and do our best to protect. If the situation escalates beyond our control then we fight."

"How exactly do we know when it's escalated too far?"

"If it's obvious the guy isn't going down without fighting we'll fight back enough to stop them. But if we see that our enemies are going to need more force to stop and bring them in, then we'll become violent enough to knock them out. But if it's too much then the elite squad is called in, the elite squad being us." Rina explained.

"The fact that we're elite just means it's even dumber that our attacks have such stupid names."

Mars finished preparing what was in front of him. He lifted up two plates and started to walk over to the two at the table.

"Here you go you two." He set the plates down in front of them.

"Oh, thank you Mars." Rina thanked him.

"Thank you." Emu thanked him but stopped him. "Although I have to ask, what is this?"

The food in question was a small tan dome that was a little bit bigger than a Rift Closer. What appeared to be a fork was sitting next to it on the plate.

"This is basic food for any recruits until what is determined to be the healthiest for them is added to the menu of their respective base. Its ingredients should be healthy to humans but if you need to, scan it with your Rift Closer."

"…but what is it?"

"We just call it a Roll." Mars answered before walking away.

Rina picked up a miniature trident that seemed to function as a fork and started cutting at what was on her plate, which was something resembling a fish.

"Anyways, I can see where you're coming from but we can't really do much about it. We can request to change teams, get equipment replaced, add a new member to our team, get help with a Deathworm infestation in our base-"

"Wait, what was that last one?" Emu interrupted her, but he was ignored.

"-but we don't really worry about the naming of our attacks."

"…what if I petition for it? I mean, there are enough elite members in the Rift Guardians to petition, right?"

"What's a petition?" Rina tilted her head in confusion.

Emu sighed and drove his fork into the Roll to take a portion out of it. "Fine. But surely we can do something about the roll call thing. Is that an actual thing all elite members do?" he ate what was on his fork.

"Primarily, yes. It has reasons around it for why it's there. Calling out which world you're from helps with legal stuff if the world you're from is actually deadly to the enemy." Rina explained.

"That's a thing?"

"Yeah. For example, the Novastar planet is a planet around twice the size of your Earth with regular temperatures around 5 times hotter. Some living creatures can't handle that, but inhabitants of the planet have exceptionally high body temperatures. On the opposite side, the planet where I'm from, Mizuri, is covered in water and ice, so my body temperature is a lot lower than yours. It'd actually be really dangerous for a Seaian to be around a Novian without proper protections."

Emu nodded along. "Okay, I get it. That does make a little sense as to why that precautions around. But wouldn't it just be easier to say what world you're from?"

Rina shook her head. "There are way too many worlds for everyone to keep track of. Can you imagine every time that you announce yourself as from Earth that people would have to ask which one you're referring to? That would have to get annoying eventually. They just put each world into a specific category and go from there."

"Huh. So which category is my Earth in?" Emu asked.

"Check your Rift Closer. They should have sent the necessary data to it by now" Rina answered. "Press the button and think about what you want it to do."

Emu pulled out his Rift Closer. _Okay…show me my worlds category?_ He pressed the button.

A screen flashed in front of the Rift Closer, showing a picture of Earth along with the caption 'Earth 385. World Category: Thunder.'

"Thunder World. Doesn't sound so bad. By the way, who is this "they" that you keep referring to?"

"The Rift Guardians have a head council overseeing everything huge and super important. Then there are smaller councils that handle other things."

The door to the room opened up, with Mrs. Venus poking her head in.

"I hate to cut your breakfast date short but we've got a situation that needs handling. Meet me in the main room in five Earth minutes."

* * *

The screen in the main room had a map of the Earth that Horn and Mrs. Venus were looking over when Emu and Rina walked in. The map had multiple red dots all over the seven continents.

"What's going on?" Rina asked.

"We've detected multiple Rifts being opened all around the Earth. A lot of them too." Mrs. Venus explained. "What's strange is that when Forrest investigated, he found humans surrounding almost all of the areas but he didn't find whoever opened the Rifts. Though some people were rather unhappy when he went to close them."

"Unhappy? Why?" Emu asked.

"According to his report it was in some kind of vault with a lot of paper and jewels. They seemed valuable as well."

"Vault? Oh, wait, I think I have an idea as to why they were upset." Emu had a sudden realization. "Okay, where exactly were most of the Rifts opened? Like what were the specific buildings?"

"Forrest couldn't tell what the words meant. There were no words for the title of the place in his language." Horn explained.

"Does this screen get any news from Earth?" Mrs. Venus nodded. "Okay, start searching through the news stations to try to see if they're talking about anything involving those locations."

"Got it. Hey, Emu, why don't you go down to Earth to check the buildings for yourself?" Rina suggested.

"Oh, okay." Emu nodded. "I'll go right now."

"I'll come with. I kind of want to see this for myself." Mrs. Venus said.

"Eh? Really? The boss wants to leave the base?" Emu raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not defenseless, Emu. And just because I'm the boss doesn't mean I don't get out and help out as well. Besides, Rina is a lot better with data gathering plus she'll get a kick out of your world's news." Mrs. Venus crossed her arms.

Rina smiled and nodded to confirm this.

* * *

The Rift opened up in an alleyway, Mrs. Venus falling out of it gracefully and stepping aside to allow Emu to fall out and stumble until he regained his balance.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this" Emu grinned.

"Congratulations." Mrs. Venus dryly commented as the Rift closed behind them. She walked out of the alleyway and onto the sidewalk while looking around the street before her. "So this is your world? As far as Earth's go it's not so bad. Quiet even."

"Quiet?" Emu walked out after her. "Where is everybody?"

The street in front of them was practically empty, with the few people there either hurrying to their destination or trying to flag down passing cars to hitchhike.

"Is there usually more people here?" Mrs. Venus asked.

Emu looked around before he ran to a nearby store and entered it. It was empty aside from a clerk behind the counter reading a newspaper.

"Oh! Welcome! Finally, there's someone trying to buy something." The clerk put down the newspaper.

"Slow day?" Emu raised an eyebrow as he browsed through the aisles, looking through the items as Mrs. Venus walked in behind him. She rolled the sleeve on her left wrist back to reveal a small oval-shaped watch attached to her wrist by a brace. The watch looked similar in design to a Rift Closer but with a lever on the top and a button on the side. She secretly scanned the clerk with the brace but pressed the button again, resulting in a flash from the brace that the clerk noticed but ignored.

"Try slow week. Ever since those giant things showed up, everyone's been freaking out and staying inside." The clerk stated.

"Giant things?" Emu raised an eyebrow.

"Are you referring to the Rift Legends?" Mrs. Venus asked while picking up a bag of potato chips and curiously looking over them.

"I don't necessarily know what they're called. Those giant monster robot-looking things that showed up out of nowhere? You guys haven't seen them?"

Emu picked up three chocolate bars and a bottle of water before walking back to the counter.

"Sorry, I don't really get out much. But what do you mean?" he set the items down on the counter before fishing in his pocket for his wallet. Mrs. Venus stood next to him and set the bag down as well.

"Your mom here must really shelter you." The clerk commented as he started to scan the items.

"Mom?" Mrs. Venus raised an eyebrow.

"It started with some monster attack in America. Video footage got out and people were skeptical of it. Then another attack happened, followed by the giant things coming in and wreaking havoc all over some city in Japan. Suddenly people were a lot less skeptical." The clerk bagged the items. "I haven't seen the videos myself so I didn't believe it. But it's a lot easier to believe when there are news helicopters reporting on the giants fighting and the damaged city itself. So now people are scared, trying to go somewhere safe or staying inside or away from everything to avoid getting hurt."

Emu dug into his wallet and pulled out some money before passing it to the clerk.

"Fear is a natural instinct in most species. This kind of panic is normal." Mrs. Venus shrugged. "Especially for a planet new to all of this."

"What?" The clerk looked at her like she was crazy.

"Uh-you'll have to excuse my…mom. She's a bit out of it herself." Emu tried to cover up, taking the bag. "Come on mom, let's get back home."

"Actually" the clerk wrote down something on a slip of paper and then handed it to Mrs. Venus. "I happen to like crazy." He winked.

Emu pulled Mrs. Venus out of the store by her hand as she stared at the slip of paper. "What do these numbers mean?" Mrs. Venus asked, showing Emu the paper.

"He gave you his number. Great. Now I have to worry about you looking like my hot mom." Emu sighed.

"Is that a problem?"

"I'm not going to go into why it is right now. We have more important things to worry about." He handed the bag to her.

Mrs. Venus opened the bag and pulled out the potato chips she bought. She rolled her sleeve back to reveal her brace before she pressed the button on the side and held the chips up to it to scan.

"Hm…so it's good for me to eat but in the long run it could lead to health problems?" she said aloud.

"Can you please focus?"

"I am focusing, just more on this than what you're worried about. Besides, you were the one who just got distracted trying to get information about what happened here."

"In my defense, I thought something unnatural was going on and wanted to check it out. Now we know what's going on." Emu turned to Mrs. Venus only to sigh when he saw her gnawing on the chips bag.

She pulled back while looking at the bag in disappointment. "Well this is exceptionally bland." She commented.

Emu took the bag from her and opened it by the top, making sure to avoid where she bit. He handed it back to her. "So where was the Rift again?"

Mrs. Venus looked into the bag curiously. "Don't know why I didn't think of that earlier." She pulled out a chip to investigate it.

"Mrs. Venus." Emu sighed.

Mrs. Venus rolled her eyes and placed the chip back in the bag before holding up her brace again and pressing the button. A screen popped up with an arrow pointing forwards.

They followed the arrow until they eventually reached the outside of a building surrounded with police tape.

"Hmm. These are quite good." Mrs. Venus commented as she finished the bag of chips. "Where do I dispose of this?"

Emu grabbed the bag without a word and just tossed it into a nearby trashcan.

"Okay. So. This is a bank." Emu realized while reading the letters on the front.

"A bank?"

"I think so. It's in Spanish. And thankfully I know Spanish. But more importantly, why exactly was a Rift opened in a bank?"

* * *

Mrs. Venus and Emu entered the base through a Rift to find Rina writing in an alien language on what looked like a whiteboard. Horn was standing next to her and writing down stuff on a clipboard.

"Welcome back!" Rina greeted. She then backed away from the whiteboard and looked at the screen before her. The screen had six different channels on, with each managing to fit in.

Emu moved to set the bag down at the table only to find it covered in papers that were covered in writing.

"Jesus, Rina, we weren't gone for that long!" he said to her.

"What's Jesus?" Horn asked.

"Worry about it later. What've you got?" Mrs. Venus asked.

Rina grinned. "Glad you asked. Most of the news stations have been focused on the Rift Legends and our fighting, strangely enough, but we've also found some reports on a bunch of robberies going on in the places with the open Rifts. I've been having trouble keeping track of what everyone is saying and also some of the words they're using in their languages don't translate into what I speak but I've made do with what I've got."

"If you want to keep track of what they're saying try not having six news channels on at once." Emu remarked as he got the bottle of water out of the bag. "Here." He passed it to Rina.

"Thanks." She scanned it with her Rift Closer but upon finding it was safe she figured out how to open it and then drink out of it.

"Almost all of the robberies correspond with the opened Rifts but so far we've got almost nothing on what's been stolen aside from some gold and jewelry. What was the building that you guys found?" Horn looked up at Mrs. Venus.

"A bank, of all things. So we're just going after some thief who can open and close Rifts incredibly fast." Mrs. Venus said.

"Banks? Really?" Rina crossed her arms.

Emu looked at her in confusion. "Wouldn't you know that if you were studying the news of Earth?"

Rina froze and slightly turned red. "Well…uh…you see…I can only understand you because…I made it so your mind would automatically translate anything you said into the language I can speak…but anything you heard would be translated into what you can understand…so I scanned the news but I can only get fragments of a language through a broadcast instead of the entire thing in person so…I…" Rina tried to finish.

"When you said you were having trouble you actually meant that you can't understand most of what's being said, didn't you?" Mrs. Venus gave Rina a small grin.

Rina shyly nodded to confirm.

"…but if that's the case, how can you guys understand me?" Emu asked Horn.

"The base has a telepathic field which can translate any language into any language but there are some words that can't be translated into other languages but that's beside the point." Mars began to explain. "The telepathic field itself has a database of sorts with multiple languages from across the universe. When Rina scanned you she uploaded the language you were speaking into the database. So whenever you speak we all hear our native language. And when we speak you hear your native language."

"I can speak more than one language though." Emu said.

"It defaults to the one language you were speaking at the time you were scanned. Now let's move on." Mrs. Venus interrupted. "So we need to figure out how to predict where the next Rift will be opened."

"We found that the Rifts that were opened the earliest corresponded to robberies in areas with high concentrations of a certain jewel, according to the news reports." Horn explained. "But with each subsequent Rift the concentration of the jewel slowly decreased more and more."

"Find out which banks would be the next in line and prepare to head down to Earth to wait out the robber." Mrs. Venus ordered.

"Got it!" Horn got to work.

Before Emu could do anything, Rina grabbed his hand.

"Emu, I actually have something to show you." She explained before she dragged him off.

"Rina, don't just drag me off like that!" Emu scolded.

He was promptly ignored as she pulled him into the hallway. Once there, he pulled his hand from her grip as she started talking and leading him away.

"To be honest, I got you to go down to Earth for two reasons. One because I thought you needed to get out of the base and go back down to your planet. When you become a RiftRanger, you won't have much time to go back to visit your planet so I hoped that the trip would get you to go back a few more times before your employment is official." She explained to him as they stopped outside of a door.

Emu nodded along, understanding the reasoning she had. "What's the other reason?" he asked.

"I actually wanted to surprise you." Rina revealed. "As RiftRangers, we don't really get much except for the bare minimum equipment unless we request for more or make it ourselves. And usually the councils don't tend to care if one of us creates weapons so long as we don't exceed the limit of one weapon per RiftRanger; Since I think at this point you're pretty much guaranteed to become one, I made you something." She opened the door and led him into a workshop filled with alien equipment and machines. On one of the tables there was a stand holding a red pole with black and silver lines zigzagging up and down it. At the edge of the staff was a jagged silver blade with red lines highlighting the edges to make them seem like lightning bolts. Just under the blade was a port for a Rift Closer. Further down halfway was a dark gray trigger.

Rina walked over and picked up the pole then held it outwards. "Ta-da! I give you, the Shock Lance!" Rina presented the weapon to Emu.

Emu stepped towards his senior officer and gently took the Shock Lance from her. "Rina, you made this for me?"

"Mhm!" she nodded with a grin on her face.

"I…I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Emu. You're my friend and a part of my team. It doesn't matter if you're not officially a Rift Guardian yet. You are to me."

Emu smiled. "Thank you, Rina. This means a lot to me."

"It's no problem. Now just plug your Rift Closer into that slot and it'll be saved to you."

Emu followed her directions, his Rift Closer fitting snugly in the port and locking in place. The entire lance glowed as the Rift Closer emitted a blinking red light. Eventually the glowing and the blinking stopped.

 **Shock Lance: Registered.**

"You're not going to call out the name?" Rina raised an eyebrow at Emu's silence.

"No. But where exactly am I supposed to store this?"

In response to his question, Rina unplugged the Rift Closer and held it over the Shock Lance before pressing the button. It disintegrated into multiple visible bolts of electricity then traveled into the Rift Closer. "If you need to summon it, just press the button on your Rift Closer and think about summoning it." She placed the Rift Closer in his hand.

"…Rina, what CAN'T this do?" Emu held up the device questioningly.

Rina laughed as she walked to the door. "Come on, we should probably get to work."

* * *

Two Days Later…

A Rift opened inside of a bank vault. From the Rift, a cloaked figure jumped out before hurriedly placing a bunch of gold bars into a bag.

Quickly finishing, the figure turned to leave only to find Mrs. Venus patiently waiting behind the Rift, closing it with the brace on her wrist. "Hello." She greeted with a monotone voice.

A second later another Rift opened behind the figure with Horn jumping out, grabbing the figure from behind, and then jumping back through whilst carrying the figure.

Mrs. Venus put on a small grin then left through a Rift.

* * *

The Rift opened up on a rooftop, Horn and the cloaked figure falling out of it. Emu and Rina stepped up to help Horn to his feet.

The cloaked figure got up and glared at the three.

"You know, I didn't think I'd be dealing with thieves just yet." Emu muttered to himself. "Okay, you're under arrest for opening numerous illegal Rifts in order to steal…whatever's in that bag"

The figure ripped off his cloak to reveal he was a familiar figure in silver armor.

"Wait, you're that silver knight we defeated earlier!" Horn pointed.

Silver Knight drew his sword. "You pests again!" he prepared to attack as the three across from him readied their Rift Closers.

"Open The Rift! Connect The Worlds!"

Silver Knight slashed at then, energy shooting out to strike them.

 **Rift Opened!**

The lightning that formed around Emu was used as a shield to protect the three and caused a small explosion.

 **Garuda! World Connected!**

 **Kraken! World Connected!**

 **Minotaur! World Connected!**

MinotaurRanger charged out of the explosion and tackled Silver Knight, sending him flying backwards. KrakenRanger then jumped out of the explosion with GarudaRanger flying alongside her and drawing his gun.

KrakenRanger fell towards Silver Knight while lashing out with a kick. GarudaRanger on the other hand flew by the knight and fired at him. The bolt of energy hit the knight and sent him stumbling towards the edge. Then KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger attacked, the blue RiftRanger striking him with a kick while her yellow ally hit him with a punch.

Silver Knight hit the edge of the rooftop and readied his sword. He angrily slashed repeatedly at the two RiftRangers in front of him and hit them across the chest then slashed to create a Rift. Before he could jump into it, GarudaRanger flew in from behind to knock him to the ground. GarudaRanger pressed the button on his Rift Closer.

 **Shock Lance!**

Bolts of red electricity surged from the Rift Closer then hovered in front of GarudaRanger. After a second, it solidified into his Shock Lance. He grabbed the weapon and stepped back while readying it. KrakenRanger closed the Rift that Silver Knight opened then pressed the button on her Rift Closer as well. MinotaurRanger pressed the button on his Rift Closer.

 **Wave Gun!**

 **Rock Drill!**

Dust and rocks flew out of MinotaurRanger's Rift Closer while water and ice came out of KrakenRanger's.

The dust and rocks solidified into a handle attached to a drill that was about as large as a short sword. The handle was black while the drill was silver and had yellow lines running up and down it. The water and ice solidified into a shotgun-like weapon that was primarily black with a blue barrel and pump with silver lines running up and down it.

Silver Knight stood up to find that the three had formed a triangle around him.

"The Rock World! MinotaurRanger!" MinotaurRanger held his drill outwards.

"The Water World! KrakenRanger!" KrakenRanger aimed her gun at Silver Knight's head.

GarudaRanger sighed and shouldered his weapon. "The Thunder World. GarudaRanger." He flicked his left wrist.

"I already know who you three are!" Silver Knight yelled while stomping his foot on the ground angrily. "You're ruining everything!" he slashed at MinotaurRanger and sent a wave of energy at him.

MinotaurRanger drove his drill towards the energy, the spinning drill deflecting the attack and sending it upwards. As he did that, KrakenRanger shot at Silver Knight repeatedly with her gun followed by GarudaRanger stabbing at him.

As Silver Knight was disoriented from the gunshots, GarudaRanger swung his lance around repeatedly to strike him with the bladed portion.

Eventually, Silver Knight managed to block the weapon with his sword. He retaliated with a kick to the gut of GarudaRanger, who jumped back so the kick missed. MinotaurRanger then jumped in from behind while striking Silver Knight in the back.

GarudaRanger pulled his Rift Closer from his belt and plugged it into his Shock Lance.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

Electricity ran up and down the weapon as GarudaRanger spun it above his head. MinotaurRanger and KrakenRanger were quick to get out of the way as GarudaRanger pulled the trigger and slashed downwards.

 **Garuda Zap! Buster!**

 **"Garuda Lightning Buster!"** After he slashed downwards, he spun around then slashed horizontally, two waves of energy shooting out towards Silver Knight and striking him. The knight let out a cry as he was electrocuted by the energy and fell to the ground while falling unconscious.

MinotaurRanger pulled his Rift Closer off his belt and held it over Silver Knight.

 **Arrest!**

Silver Knight was handcuffed and then turned into a ball of energy that went into MinotaurRanger's Rift Closer.

"And that's it, right?" GarudaRanger asked.

"Uh…yeah. Now we just head back, send him to Planet 0, and fill out the reports." KrakenRanger nodded.

"And Planet 0 is basically just a prison?"

"Yup. Plus the reports are just backup incase the online systems get hacked or shut down." KrakenRanger started to explain as the three entered a Rift and left.

Unbeknownst to them, Forrest and Fea were watching nearby.

"Hey, Forrest, why didn't we help them?" Fea asked.

"They didn't look like they needed it. I already did my part in collecting information, they needed to get some work done too." Forrest walked over and grabbed the bag that Silver Knight had discarded. "But something doesn't seem right."

"What's wrong? We got the guy already." Fea walked after him.

"Last time we saw him he didn't seem to interested in anything but some kind of mission but here he's stealing what we now know is gold." Forrest pulled out a gold bar from the bag. "And he's been stealing from all over the world. So I'm wondering…why would he need that much gold?" Forrest tossed the gold bar to Fea. She caught it but was surprised at its weight. She looked over it.

"I…I don't know."

"Well…let's hope we can find out soon." Forrest looked towards the sky. "Something is going on here, and we need to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

Elsewhere, a figure cloaked in shadows stared at a large pile of gold bars. Another figure walked up behind him, this figure looking almost exactly like Silver and Gold Knights but colored a ruby red color and with a slender feminine figure.

The ruby red figure bowed. "Master, Silver Knight has been arrested by the Rift Guardians."

Master let out a small chuckle at this. "What's your point, Ruby?"

"Master?" Ruby asked.

"Silver Knight collected more than enough gold to build over a dozen of the machines we need. At this point I was making him get more as a joke." Master explained, turning to her.

"That's cruel, Master!" Ruby said to him.

"So what? He fulfilled his mission. Now we need to focus on our next mission. Send in Dark Knight to take out the Rift Guardians. We can have no more interruptions to our plan."

"Yes, Master." Ruby bowed and turned to leave. She hesitated and turned to look at Master for another second before she turned back and walked away.

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down while Rina was on her knees, Fea was sitting with her legs crossed, and Horn was crouching down.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** GarudaRanger, KrakenRanger, PegasusRanger, and MinotaurRanger could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch while KrakenRanger seemed to be a bit too cautious, and the last two could be seen hanging from their branches, Minotaur by his hands and PegasusRanger by the back of her knees.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn both stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The four ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** It cut to a shot of all five running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** The five were shown alongside their RiftRanger forms.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them, Kraken Legend swimming next to them, and Minotaur Legend running behind them.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The four jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Fea giving a peace sign, and Horn kicking outwards.


	4. Rift 4

Rift 4: The Winged World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Rina and Emu were currently in the break room, sitting across from each other and eating. Horn was also there, but his chest and upwards was draped across the table as he slept and drooled over the table.

"So how much longer before you're officially a Rift Guardian?" Rina asked.

"Well…I talked to Mrs. Venus and she said that the paperwork was being finalized and that a council has approved my application. She said that any day now my stuff will be put into the system and that's when I'll finally be registered as a Rift Guardian." Emu explained.

"Really? It's about time!" Rina playfully smacked him on the arm.

"What makes you say that?"

"You aren't going to be a rookie forever Emu. You're becoming better at this and you already have a Rift Legend. It wasn't a question of if you were getting your jacket and official status, is was a question of when."

"…I knew those jackets were some kind of team uniform." Emu pointed to Rina's vest before putting some food in his mouth.

Rina laughed in response. "You mean you didn't know that?"

"I kind of figured it out when I've been working around you guys and you all have this same type of vest, coat, jacket, whatever. I can't wait to see what I get though…how do they decide what it looks like?"

Rina paused and took a moment to think. "Usually they take into account the usual weather patterns of your world and what your skin can and can't handle then design it around that. The design you then get over your heart is based on your world and color. My vest for example is meant to be a thin, breathable material that doesn't cover up too much skin because my body is used to and designed for cold temperatures, so when I'm in temperatures that would otherwise cause me to dry out, I'm not wearing a thick coat that I couldn't take one step in without sweating and burning to death."

Emu nodded, accepting that answer. He then opened his mouth to ask another question. "Rina, do you ever get tired or annoyed of me asking questions?"

"No. Why would I? You're curious and don't know this stuff. I'm a scientist, it's my job to know stuff and relay it to other people." Rina grinned.

"That's fair…wait, a scientist?"

Before Rina could respond, Mrs. Venus then walked into the room.

"Look alive you three, we're going to visit Fea's world for a party." She called then walked back out.

Horn snapped awake and sat back in his seat.

"Oh? Is it that time of the Wingal year again?" Rina asked, setting down her fork.

"Wingal?" Emu asked. "What's that?"

Rina stood up, with Emu and Horn following suit. The three left the room as Rina began to explain. "Wingal is the name of Fea's species. And if we're going to a party, that means it's probably a celebration of the day of birth of one of the royal family or one of their yearly celebrations celebrating their faith."

"The royal family birthdays and the faith celebrations are around the same time of the year?"

"All "birthdays" of the royal family are around the same time as the celebrations of the faith. Or at least those able of taking the throne. The Wingal's see being born around that time as a sign from their Gods, so those in the royal family being born around then are seen as the Gods chosen to rule as the next in line."

The three walked into the main room to find Forrest, Mars, Fea, and Mrs. Venus waiting for them.

"Sorry for the abrupt warning, but my father decided to invite all of my team to celebrate my brothers' day of birth." Fea explained.

"Rift Guardians are among the most highly respected people on Skaia." Rina explained before Emu could ask, prompting Emu to nod.

"So we're not gonna be there that long you guys. Just around two Earth days, okay? Now let's get going." Mrs. Venus said as she revealed the brace around her wrist.

"How long is an Earth day?" Horn asked.

"About five Wingal days" Mars answered.

Emu looked at Mars with a surprised expression.

 _Five days? Just for two days on my planet?_

He shook his head and walked up to the Rift after Forrest, jumping through it.

* * *

 **Narration: The Universe is an infinitely large space. So much that multiple forces have formed to keep the balance of the Universe safe. And now, four officers of one of those forces will join together with one human to save the Universe from a new threat!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all five as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Lastly, Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The five RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five were shown together with a close up shown of them one after the other.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

The Rift opened on the center of a stone platform, Fea falling first through it. The rest of the team followed soon after, Mrs. Venus closing the Rift behind them.

"Welcome to Wingal!" Fea stretched her arms out in front of her, attempting to show off what was in front of her.

The stone platform was in front of a window, the window allowing a view of a beautiful white sky with multiple clouds and what appeared to be rocks littered about. The clouds were a vibrant pink color and the smallest rocks were as wide as a skyscraper on Earth was long. The rocks that were at a lower height than the window had trees cover the top along with wooden and stone houses. Several people who looked similar to Fea walked about, wearing clothing that was covered in vibrant, bright colors. Another thing to note about them is that their clothing had holes in the back of them to allow for wings approximately half their body size to hang out of the back.

Emu walked up to the window, looking over the alien environment and taking it all in. One quick glance down and he noticed that while there were more floating rocks and clouds down below, there appeared to be no single common ground.

"There's no need to be so dramatic, Fea." Mrs. Venus sighed.

"I haven't been home in so long though!" Fea defended herself. "I just want to brag and show off!" she stretched her arms outwards as a pair of angel-like wings suddenly folded out from her back.

"Let's go, Emu." Rina called to the Earthling.

Emu turned to her and nodded. He walked back towards the group as they started to leave.

"…has she always had those wings?" Emu pointed to Fea's wings.

* * *

"Mother, why are we waiting here?" Prince impatiently asked.

Currently, Queen and Prince were inside of throne room, Prince staring up at his mother while Queen was sitting in her throne.

"The celebrations on Wingal are among the most respected and honored celebrations this side of the universe. To simply be invited is an honor in itself. Which is precisely why I sent Princess, Hand, and Maid to be the guests in our place. You are unprepared for a celebration of this caliber."

"You're worried about appearance?" Prince spat.

A bolt of energy struck the ground just in front of Prince, surprising him by how quickly it appeared.

"Watch your tone, Prince. I'm still your Mother, and I expect to be treated as such. Don't talk back to me as if you understand what's at stake here. The Wingal's are valuable allies to have and I will not have my youngest child ruin our chances of creating a perfect universe."

"I-I understand, Mother." Prince stammered.

Queen was silent for a few moments.

"…Prince, I'm sorry for this, but as of right now you're still wholly unready for anything at this level. Your sister on the other hand is our best option for anything diplomatic. I'll send you out when you're ready, I promise."

"…you promise?" Prince asked.

"Yes…how about I make it up to you? We should be free to do whatever you like today, how does that sound?"

"It sounds good, Mother."

"So, what would you like to do?"

* * *

The Rift Guardian group walked through the stands of a large arena. Soon enough, they walked into a platform different from the area around it, with the platform extending to cover some of the seats in front of it. The platform held multiple seats, each seat colored much differently then the regular seats on the stands. In the center of the platform, there was an older man with a pair of wings jutting out of his back who slightly resembled Fea. He was talking to another man with wings, this one in a set of military-looking clothes.

"Papa!" Fea cried.

The older man turned around to find the girl running towards him.

"Fea! How's my little princess?" the man caught Fea in a hug as she jumped into his arms.

"I'm doing so much better now that I'm home." Fea answered.

"Fea's a Princess?" Emu said in surprise.

"Yeah, sorry. Should have warned you about that earlier." Rina admitted.

The man let out a hearty laugh as he patted his daughter on the head. He turned to look at the rest of the Rift Guardians.

"I see you brought your team with you! Good, it's always an honor to have Rift Guardians join us on these wondrous days!" the man walked towards them.

"King Fyx, it's an honor to see you again." Mrs. Venus grinned and politely bowed, the man bowing in response to her bowing but the two of them maintaining eye contact.

"And to you as well, Mrs. Venus!" Fyx turned to Horn and Forrest next. "Forrest! Horn! How are you two doing?"

"Very well, sir." Forrest politely bowed. "Thank you for asking."

"I'm doing pretty good!" Horn answered.

Fyx then turned to Mars. "And Mars, it's always a pleasure."

"As it is to me, your highness." Mars and Fyx bowed to each other.

Fyx finally turned to Emu and Rina.

"Ah, two faces I haven't seen before. You must be Rina! Fea's told me much about you."

"Likewise, sir. I apologize for my absence for the last few celebrations, I was busy on missions and this was the first time I was free for one of them." Rina said.

The two bowed to each other before he turned to Emu. "Now who might you be, young man?"

"My name is Emu, your highness. It's a pleasure to meet you." Emu bowed politely, not looking at the ground but instead bowing his head as well.

Fyx put on a large grin. "Hohoho! Jumping straight to the point already are you? Sorry my boy but I'm afraid she isn't interested in young men like yourself!"

Emu looked up confused.

"Bowing with your head as well is nowadays a formal way of asking for the child's hand in marriage." Mars quickly explained.

Emu turned bright red. "Uh-I-um-"

Fyx laughed and patted Emu on the shoulder. "I'm just teasing you young man! It's always fun to joke around with the rookies in the squad, isn't that right Sor?" Fyx asked the military man nearby.

"Indeed." The man nodded with a grin.

"I apologize for Emu's behavior. He's from a planet that's new to the operations of the universe outside of his system and-" Forrest started to say.

"There's no need to say sorry for him Forrest. The boy looks like he's received enough punishment." Fyx chuckled.

Emu looked away, embarrassed.

"Mrs. Venus, Mars, would you like to come with me to discuss what our plans are so we can sync them up to the best of our abilities?"

"Of course, King Fyx." Mrs. Venus nodded.

"It would be an honor, your majesty" Mars responded.

"Fea, take Rina and Horn to go see Zars. He does idolize the Rift Guardians, that one. Especially after learning his sister was recruited to be one."

"Okay Papa!" Fea smiled.

"And Forrest, would you by any chance like to show off your strength to the military again? And Emu can go with you as well, see a bit more of an alien world."

Forrest simply nodded. Emu nodded as well.

"Good, then let us all go our separate ways, but let us have adventures that we can share upon our return to each other."

* * *

In the shadows of a facility, a figure crept carefully into a room. This figure had a similar shape to Gold and Silver Knight, but his armor appeared to blend perfectly into the dark so it was hard to make out.

The lights turned off as figure approached a soldier at a computer from behind. A small dagger appeared from his wrist before he stepped behind the soldier and placed it to his neck.

"Make a sound and this goes right through your neck." The figure hissed. "The Rift Guardians are on this world for a period of time, correct?"

The soldier gave a small nod.

"Good. What are their plans?"

"I…I don't know."

"…how disappointing."

The figure stepped back while carrying the soldiers body, but the two vanished the second he did. A few moments passed until the figure suddenly stepped forward from out of nothing but shadows.

"So…who to ask next?"

* * *

Emu watched in awe as Forrest fought against a small crowd of men. The men were in military uniforms alike Sor's, only colored differently.

Emu was standing on a platform overlooking some training grounds, Sor standing next to him with some boxes behind them. Before the platform was Forrest in a spar against men that appeared to be in the military.

"Impressed?" Sor spoke up. "Forrest is well known among the military here on Wingal. No matter how much men we send in to spar with him, they always lose to him. People tend to look up to him as a wall that they need to overcome to get stronger."

As he spoke, Forrest dove to the right to avoid four men. He buried his claws into the ground and used his momentum to spin his body around. The men were then subjected to the effects of gravity after Forrest jumped into the air and buried his foot into the face of one of the men up front, resulting in him falling and knocking over the others in a domino effect.

"C'mon. You guys can do better than that." An animalistic smirk formed on Forrest's face as he crouched on the ground and prepared to pounce on his next target.

Behind Emu and Sor, a young boy could be seen sneaking onto the platform but hiding behind a box.

"He looks happy." Emu commented.

"You sound surprised. Here we rarely see Forrest do anything BUT be happy."

"Forrest and I don't really know each other that well. I don't think he really likes me." Emu admitted.

Sor nodded. "I can understand that. He's not been the warmest to new guys ever since what happened to his world."

"His world?" Emu turned to Sor.

"Yeah. Forrest's world was destroyed." Sor said as if Emu knew what he was referring to.

"Oh okay…wait, what?" Emu blinked and turned to Sor.

"You didn't know? I thought that would have been one of the first things you were informed about Forrest." Sor said to himself. "Very well. It's not my business to explain but I've already given away too much so what's a bit more. His world was destroyed a long time ago, resulting in him becoming the cold person you see today. He's not the last of his species but you can count the remaining dozens of his species on one hand…wait, how many fingers does your species have on one hand?"

Emu looked at Sor but didn't respond.

"Very well. That's a bit off topic." Sor shrugged.

The boy behind them moved to get into a better position to watch the fighting. As a result, multiple boxes fell over and gained the attention of Emu and Sor.

"Prince Zars?" Sor said. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to watch the soldiers." Zars walked around the boxes, revealing he was a boy just shorter than Fea with a small pair of wings hanging from his back. "But then the Rift Guardian started fighting all those guys and it was so cool!"

"Zars, it's not safe for you to be around here right now." Sor said to the boy.

"Aw, come on Uncle Sor! There's nothing wrong with hanging around here, is there? Besides, I really want to talk to the Rift Guardians! Please?" Zars pleaded.

Sor looked down at Zars but soon sighed.

"…what kind of a man would I be if I left my best friend's son unhappy on his day? Alright, you can spend time with the Rift Guardians, but I'm contacting your father and sister to let them know where you are." Sor crossed his arms.

"Yay! Thank you Uncle Sor!" Zars hugged Sor from the side.

"I should get to work." Sor said. "Emu, can you watch Zars?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Emu nodded.

"Thank you. I'll see you all later." Sor turned and left.

* * *

Princess walked through the courtyard, Maid with her as well.

Princess was looking straight ahead with a blank expression on her face while Maid on the other hand had a happy expression as she looked at the world around her. Princess turned to Maid eventually.

"You seem rather happy, Maid. You see anything you like?"

Maid blushed and turned back around.

"I'm s-sorry, my Princess." She said.

"Don't worry about it. I remember my first time visiting a new world. I was just like you."

"R-really?"

Princess grinned. "Yeah. It can be a bit jarring b-AGH!" she didn't finish when someone ran into her and knocked her to the ground.

* * *

A few seconds earlier, Fea, Horn, and Rina were walking through another part of the courtyard.

"Where is that little winger?" Fea looked around.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere, Fea. Don't be so worried about it." Horn said.

"I'm not worried. I haven't been home in so long, I'm just excited to see him again." Fea turned and defended herself. She backed up quickly and prepared to turn and run.

"And I'm going to find him!"

"Fea, wait!" Rina called.

Fea spun around just in time to accidentally run into someone and for the two of them to fall to the ground.

"Probably should have mentioned that earlier. You know, BEFORE she started running." Horn said to Rina.

"Yeah…" Rina sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

Fea got off of the woman she tackled.

"I'm so sorry!" she helped the woman up, revealing herself to be Princess. "Are you okay?"

Princess simply stared at Fea wordlessly, nodding as an answer.

"I'm really sorry about that, I'm looking for my brother. He's about this long and looks kind of like me." Fea said. "Have you seen him?"

Princess shook her head as a response.

"Really? That sucks." Fea sighed. "…ah! Where are my manners? I'm Fea Strayx, daughter of King Fyx and Princess of the North Wingal Kingdom!" Fea grabbed Princess's hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you!"

"I…I'm Princess." Princess lightly flushed and looked down at their hands, which were still gripped together.

"Oh! I've heard of you! You're from that royal family that only goes by their "Prince" and "Princess" names, right?" Fea asked, letting go of Princess's hand and leaning in closer.

"Y-yeah." Princess blush turned heavier.

Rina came up from behind. "Pardon Fea. She is royalty but she doesn't tend to act like it a lot."

"Come on, Rina!" Fea said to her. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to run into her and knock her into the ground!"

"I know, but still. You're making the girl uncomfortable. You can get her information later, we need to get going"

"Ah! You're right! I should be searching for Zars!" Fea realized.

"I-It was nice m-meeting you." Princess politely bowed to the Wingal.

Fea bowed as well. She patted her on the shoulder when she stood back up. "Maybe we'll see each other again later, okay?"

"O-okay."

"Come on Horn!" Fea called to the lone male.

"Wha-? Got it. I'm coming!" Horn walked up to them.

Fea waved to Princess as the three walked off. "Bye!"

Princess slowly waved back to Fea, the blush still on her face. Maid looked between them as she stepped up next to her.

"Are you alright, milady?" Maid asked Princess. Princess turned to Maid and nodded. "You look a little bit dazed, are you sure you're okay?" Maid asked.

"Let's…let's go and get Hand. We were supposed to be doing that, right?"

* * *

Fea lead her group away with a large grin on her face.

Horn looked at Fea with a grin. "You seem overly happy. Was it that girl back there?"

"Maybe~" Fea teased.

"She seemed to like you by how much she was blushing." Horn commented.

"You think so? I hope so, she was kinda cute and she seemed really cool too. Maybe I'll see her again while I'm here." Fea nodded. "And speaking of stuff like this, what about you and Emu, Rina?"

"Huh?" Rina said.

"You heard me. I see how close you two are to each other." Fea said.

"Fea, what are you implying? You don't even see us together that often."

"Well he's going to be a part of our team soon, isn't he? Does that mean I'll see a lot more of you two working together?"

"…yes. Because that's the point of us working in a team." Rina deadpanned.

"You get the idea."

Before Rina could respond, Fea's Rift Closer started beeping. She answered it with a screen popping up to reveal Sor's face.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Fea! I was just calling to say that your brother is here in the military facility."

"Ah! Thank you Uncle Sor!"

"It's no problem, I-AH!" Sor was silenced as the call suddenly ended.

"What was that?" Horn asked.

Fea looked up and started running.

"Fea, where are you going?" Rina called after her.

"I've gotta go help him! Something's wrong!"

* * *

Forrest relaxed as he stood amongst the fallen soldiers, having defeated all of them.

Emu jumped down from the platform and started to help up the fallen soldiers.

"Hey, good job out there you guys." He started to congratulate them.

"What are you doing?" Forrest asked.

"Helping them up. You did a number on them so they may need some help." Emu explained as he helped up another man.

"Don't. They lost. You don't need to pity them and help them up while encouraging them." Forrest crossed his arms.

"That's…that's not what I was doing at all. Did it really seem like I was doing that?" Emu asked.

"Really? Then what were you doing?"

"I was just helping them up. I don't know how you guys do things but where I'm from we help people up." Emu shrugged.

Forrest walked up to Emu.

"I don't like the way you smell."

"I'm sorry?" Emu turned to Forrest but slightly jumped when he saw how close Forrest had suddenly gotten.

"You reek of sadness and rage but based on how you act you look like you're putting up a front. If you smelt the way you acted there would be no problem. But since you don't, I wonder…who are you, really?"

"Does that really matter right-"

"I asked you who you are. I don't know you, Emu. I don't trust you, and with the way you're hiding yourself I have good reason."

"Yeah. You've got good reason to believe I'm hiding myself with what I've told you in our limited interactions with each other." Emu remarked.

"…fight me." Forrest ordered.

"Why?"

"Show me your strength. Convince me that you belong on this team. You're close to becoming an official Rift Guardian, aren't you? Show me that you're wrong and that what you're hiding won't hurt anyone." Forrest reached into his pocket and pulled out his Rift Closer.

"…no." Emu refused then turned and started to walk away. He noticed Zars standing nearby while watching them.

"Is everything all right?" he asked. "I wanted to come talk but you guys looked like you were in the middle of something."

"It's fine, kid. Thanks for caring." Emu sighed.

Zars opened his mouth to speak but Emu tuned him out as he noticed movement nearby from the shadow of the platform. He barely managed to tackle Zars to the ground as the dagger cut into the air where his head previously was. Emu then proceeded to get off the boy and get onto both knees while searching for his assailant.

"Okay, how did I know to do that?" he muttered to himself as he got to his feet. "Get to safety." He warned Zars while pulling out his Rift Closer. Zars complied, going back up to the platform and hiding behind some boxes.

As soon as he heard a footstep he spun around and punched at the source.

"OW!" Forrest clutched as his nose.

"Oh, sorry!" Emu apologized.

Forrest responded by pushing Emu out of the way as the dagger swung by his head again.

 **Rift Opened!**

A red Rift formed from Emu's now opened Rift Closer, electricity and lightning surging out of it and around him. The bright light that came from it removed any shadow from sight and temporarily blinded anyone directly looking at it.

As the shadows vanished, a figure suddenly appeared from where Emu's shadow was. The figure looked extremely similar to Gold Knight and Silver Knight, only covered in slender, chrome black armor with a dagger in his hand.

"Connect The Worlds!"

 **Garuda! World Connected!**

The lights faded away to reveal GarudaRanger, who punched at the figure.

"Who are you?" he demanded as the figure stumbled backwards.

"…Call me Dark Knight." The figure responded then brandished his dagger.

GarudaRanger pulled out his gun then converted it to knife mode before brandishing it as well.

As he and Dark Knight began to fight, Forrest opened his own Rift Closer. "Open The Rift."

 **Rift Opened!**

From the device, a black and purple Rift formed with black and purple smoke coming out of it.

"Connect The Worlds." The energy surrounded him to form his WerewolfRanger suit.

 **Werewolf! World Connected!**

When his suit formed, he slotted his Rift Closer in his belt and then pressed the button.

 **Zero Sabers!**

More smoke came out of the Rift Closer before solidifying into two entirely black swords that WerewolfRanger grabbed onto. He brandished both weapons then jumped towards Dark Knight.

GarudaRanger lashed at Dark Knight with his knife, though the weapon was quickly blocked by Dark Knight's dagger. Then WerewolfRanger came in with his weapons and slashed at Dark Knight.

Dark Knight ducked out of the way of both slashes and drove his dagger at the attacker. WerewolfRanger backed up then dove forward again to strike. GarudaRanger tried to swing his knife at Dark Knight as well.

However, Dark Knight stepped backwards into the shadow of the platform nearby. The attacks of the two RiftRangers missed as Dark Knight suddenly vanished.

WerewolfRanger moved into the shadows as well, searching for his enemy.

"Forrest, wait!" GarudaRanger tried to warn him.

It was too late though, as Dark Knight's attack came out of the shadows and hit WerewolfRanger across his helmet.

GarudaRanger went to WerewolfRanger as he fell into the light. He didn't seem to notice that his shadow covered WerewolfRanger until a fist flew into his face.

The two laid on the ground for a few seconds.

"Okay. Shadows. This is gonna suck." GarudaRanger groaned before he rolled over and got to his feet.

WerewolfRanger stood up as well and started to swing his weapons around his shadow. He was hit in the stomach and then knocked to the ground.

"You can't just swing wildly and hope for it to work!"

"You wanna try this?" WerewolfRanger growled.

Wordlessly, GarudaRanger pressed the button on his Rift Closer.

 **Shock Lance!**

When his weapon generated he proceeded to pull the trigger and aim it near WerewolfRanger. Lightning flew out of the blade and flew past him, lighting up his shadow. Dark Knight appeared next to WerewolfRanger with the shadow gone.

"Yes." GarudaRanger converted his knife to gun mode and shot Dark Knight. "I would."

WerewolfRanger slashed at Dark Knight angrily instead of responding.

Dark Knight fell backwards onto the ground as GarudaRanger walked up to WerewolfRanger.

"He looks remarkably like Silver and Gold Knights. What's going on here?" GarudaRanger said to himself.

"Don't worry about it." WerewolfRanger replied to him.

"But I'm just saying. This is the third Knight-like guy we've faced. This can't be a coincidence. Rina theorized about a gang of sorts. Could that be what we're dealing with?"

"What did I just say?"

"Right, sorry, carry on." GarudaRanger stepped out of the way as Dark Knight got to his feet.

Dark Knight looked at the Rift Guardians in front of him but then turned and dashed towards the shadow of the platform. GarudaRanger aimed his gun and fired as Dark Knight dove into the shadows.

The attack missed.

He proceeded to aim his Shock Lance towards the platform and then fire off an attack to light up the shadows. Dark Knight was nowhere to be found when he did.

"Crap." GarudaRanger sighed. "Come on, he has to be around here somewhere."

"No. It'll be night soon enough. We'll never find him then." WerewolfRanger refused, turning back into Forrest.

"Emu!" Rina's voice called out. Rina then ran in by herself.

"Where's Fea and Horn? We need to be at the ready. There's an attacker somewhere who can hide in the shadows." Forrest said.

"Fea went to go find Sor. There was something wrong and we think he's been attacked. Horn went with her."

"Could it have been the same guy?" Forrest asked.

"It seems likely. If that Dark Knight guy was on this military base for a while he could have gone after Sor at some point." GarudaRanger spoke up. "Question is: where did he go?" he turned to look somewhere else before turning back to Forrest. "What do you think?"

Forrest raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care what I think?"

"I mean we're going to be part of a team. It doesn't hurt to work together." GarudaRanger pointed out.

Forrest's eyebrows now lowered as he glared at GarudaRanger. "Why would I want to work together with you? As you are now you're barely worth my time."

"Forrest." Rina tried to stop him.

"Don't butt in, Rina." Forrest said to her. "Try and talk to me again when you're an official member of the team." He turned to walk away.

GarudaRanger turned back into Emu. "Oi. We're not done talking yet."

"Yes I am."

"I'm not. Look, working together, we almost had that guy. If I hadn't gotten distracted we would have gotten him too. Let's just work together to arrest him, okay?"

"No. You're nothing but a waste of space right now. Just stay away from me."

Emu grit his teeth, getting slightly frustrated.

"I know you don't like me, but if we can just put aside our differences and find some common ground then maybe we can-"

"Common ground? What in this universe can you possibly relate to me?" Forrest turned to Emu as he walked away.

"I've lost something important to me too."

Forrest paused. After a second he turned around to face Emu.

"Don't ever say anything like that to me again. Whatever you've lost doesn't come close to anything I've lost."

"You're not the only one who's lost things super close to you!" Emu growled.

"And what have you lost that's so important? What can match up to the loss of everything I've ever loved? What can match up to me witnessing the death of everything I ever cared about? What do you have to compare to me?" Forrest got in Emu's face.

"…I may not have lost my physical world. But trust me. The world that I grew in and loved is the world I watched die with the person closest to me. I assume the same thing happened to you, correct?" Emu responded.

Forrest bared his teeth as he picked up Emu by the collar. Rina stepped forward, prepared to intervene when Emu held out his hand to stop her.

"Really? You held the one thing you loved more than life itself in your arms as the life faded out of her body? You watched your entire world come undone while you could do nothing to stop it at all?" Forrest hissed angrily.

Emu stared back, an emotionless glare on his face. Then before anyone could respond, his eyes started to water as a tear slid down his cheek from his right eye.

"Yes. My world died with the one man I cared for more than life itself."

Forrest tightened his grip on Emu's collar. "Don't bullshit me." His other hand reached forward and grabbed Emu's Rift Closer. He then dropped the human to the ground.

"I can't work with a guy like you. Quit being a Rift Guardian." Forrest hissed while holding onto Emu's Rift Closer.

"Wait, Forrest!" Rina tried to stop him but he formed a Rift with his own Rift Closer and left the area. She turned to Emu after a moment and helped him up.

"Emu, are you okay? There's…there's water leaking out of your eyes." She wiped his cheek for him.

"Yeah…yeah. I'm fine." Emu replied.

Unbeknownst to the two, Zars was still nearby, watching them with a frown on his face. He turned and dropped down from the platform before walking off.

However, something that Zars didn't notice was a slight movement in his shadow as he walked away.

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down while Rina was on her knees, Fea was sitting with her legs crossed, and Horn was crouching down.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** GarudaRanger, KrakenRanger, PegasusRanger, and MinotaurRanger could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch while KrakenRanger seemed to be a bit too cautious, and the last two could be seen hanging from their branches, MinotaurRanger by his hands and PegasusRanger by the back of her knees.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The four ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** It cut to a shot of all five running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** The five were shown alongside their RiftRanger forms.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them, Kraken Legend swimming next to them, and Minotaur Legend running behind them.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Fea, and Horn continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The four jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Fea giving a peace sign, and Horn kicking outwards.


	5. Rift 5

Rift 5: The Connected World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Flashback: _"Connected"_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Princess sat alone with a small device in her hand. She prepared to turn it on when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hey! You're Princess, right?" Fea appeared behind her and asked.

Princess spun around to face Fea, a light blush on her face.

"Hello again, Fea." Princess greeted the Wingal Princess.

"I haven't seen you since the first day of the celebrations, how have you been?" Fea asked.

"I've been good, thank you for asking. And yourself?"

"Well, other then some stuff with my team, it's been good." Fea admitted.

"What happened?"

"Just these two guys getting on each other's nerves, basically. It's not really much to worry about but then one of them made it a big deal by taking the equipment of the other. So now our boss has to get involved and make it a big deal and all that." Fea explained.

"Huh. And what do you think of the situation?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who do you think is the person in the right, basically." Princess clarified.

Fea took a moment to think about that before she responded.

"Eh, it doesn't really matter to me, I know that it'll sort itself out eventually. But enough about me, I wanted to talk with you about other things."

"You…did?" Princess's blush turned a bit brighter.

"Well, yeah. Is that a problem?" Fea tilted her head in confusion.

"N-no!" Princess was quick to exclaim before she backtracked. "I-I mean, it's not really a problem, but I was just about to call someone before you showed up."

"Ohhhh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I'll just be on my way." Fea apologized and tried to walk away.

"No, it's fine, really." Princess said. "Just, let me call this person and I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay." Fea nodded.

Princess gave a light grin and turned to walk away. When she was a fair distance away and was certain she could not be heard by Fea, she activated the device in her hand.

A screen formed from the device, showing off the shadowed figure of Queen.

"Hello, Mother. I'm here to report on how things are going here."

"Hello, Princess. How has everything been the past couple of days?"

"They've been going well, Mother. The celebrations have been nice and it's been fun. It would appear that with a little more work, our plans can be completed easily." Princess reported.

Queen's figure nodded slowly. "I understand, good work, Princess…" there was a brief pause before Queen said anything else. "Are you…blushing?"

Princess internally cursed as her mother pointed out her colored cheeks. "It's nothing Mother, I swear. There was just someone I was talking to. It's not that important." She denied.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Queen teasingly asked her daughter.

"There was no guy." Princess denied.

"…oh, I see. So who's the lucky lady?"

"Mother!" Princess entire face was covered in her blush. "It doesn't matter who she is!"

"So it is a she? It apparently does matter though given how much you're reacting over this."

"G-goodbye Mother!" Princess hurriedly tried to turn off her device.

"Say hi to your new "friend" for me!" Queen got in just before the call ended.

Princess sighed and took a few seconds to make sure her blush was going down before she turned back to walk over to Fea.

* * *

 **Narration: The Universe is an infinitely large space. So much that multiple forces have formed to keep the balance of the Universe safe. And now, four officers of one of those forces will join together with one human to save the Universe from a new threat!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all five as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Lastly, Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The five RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five were shown together with a close up shown of them one after the other.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Emu and Rina were at a bar of sorts, a glass in front of both of them. The glass Emu had had a clear orange liquid in it while Rina's glass had a clear green foaming liquid.

"I told you that water is differently colored on other planets." Rina remarked as Emu looked over his glass.

"Well. You were right. But what've you got there?" Emu pointed to Rina's drink.

"Oh. This is the Wingal equivalent of what's called "alcohol" on your planet." Rina explained before putting her drink to her mouth and taking a small sip.

Emu raised an eyebrow at this.

"You want some?" Rina held out the drink to Emu.

"Uh…thanks but no thanks. For all I know that could be like alcohol to Wingal's but like cyanide to humans."

"Oh…I don't know what that is."

"…okay." Emu shrugged. "I'd try to scan it to see if it's good but I can't exactly do that right now. Which reminds me, is this water the same as it is on my Earth?"

Rina's answered him by taking his glass and drinking from it. Emu blankly stared at her as she drank a fourth of his glass then placed it back in front of him.

"Yup, it's just colored orange…what?" she realized he was staring at her.

"…you know that was my drink, right?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes. On Earth there are people who don't tend to share drinks unless it's with someone we're really close with. I'm one of those people"

"We're not that close?"

"Not really. It hasn't been that long since we met. Don't get me wrong, we are friends and you're the one I'm closest to in this team, but we still barely know each other."

"Oh." Rina nodded her head in understanding. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. But now you owe me for that glass of water back on Earth and this too." Emu turned his cup so the opposite side was facing him and then drank from that.

Rina laughed at that and then sipped from her drink as well.

When the two finished drinking, Emu turned to Rina again. "Hey, is it alright if I ask about Forrest?"

"I would be surprised if you didn't ask about him. What do you want to know?"

"Why is Forrest not giving me a chance? We're going to be on the same team so wouldn't it make sense for him to at least lighten up a little since I'm close to being his teammate?" Emu asked.

Rina took a few seconds to think before she responded. "He wants to do what he can to save other worlds so if he ends up really cold and harsh to rookies it's because he doesn't see you as worthy as the others."

"Okay, well what's with him getting onto me and accusing me of lying about knowing his pain?"

"Forrest is…" Rina paused to find the right word.

"A lone wolf?" Emu joked.

"Let's go with that. He prefers to be alone and to himself and only tolerates the rest of us most of the time. Fea does hang around him but that's because he lets her. He doesn't really think that the rest of us can understand the pain of losing your world."

Emu simply nodded along as she spoke.

"But…you said that you lost something important too, right? What did you mean by that?" Rina gently placed her hand on his.

Emu stared at her hand. His expression didn't change.

"…sorry. You don't have to tell me." Rina slowly pulled her hand back.

"It's fine. I'll explain eventually, just…" Emu trailed off.

"…hey, there was supposed to be a tournament later today for Prince Zars day of birth. Why don't we go watch that?" Rina suggested.

"Alright." Emu shrugged.

* * *

Forrest sat in front of Mrs. Venus and Mars.

The three were currently in the middle of a park, Mrs. Venus and Forrest sitting on the ground while Mars stood next to Mrs. Venus with his arms behind his back.

"…still not gonna talk, are you?" Mrs. Venus broke the silence.

Forrest didn't respond, his face blank and emotionless.

"Look, no matter what you tell me about the situation, you're still the one with Emu's Rift Closer. I can't make you give it back because he's not a full on Rift Guardian, but you could at least talk about it." Mrs. Venus crossed her arms.

Forrest tilted his head, still silent.

"Forrest, I'm trying to help you here. I understand the situation and can agree with your reasonings, or at least what I heard from Rina. But you need to explain yourself or I will need to punish you."

Forrest still didn't respond.

"Don't even bother trying anymore, Mrs. Venus." Mars said.

Mrs. Venus sighed. "Fine. Emu is getting his registration as a Rift Guardian finalized. You have 5 Earth hours to return his Rift Closer or I'm putting you on suspension." She stood up and walked away without another word. Mars followed after her.

Forrest was left alone, though he didn't appear to really care as his mind wandered into other subjects.

 _"_ _My world died with the one man I cared for more than life itself."_

Forrest narrowed his eyes when he thought back to Emu's words.

 _Why would he say that to me? Does he honestly think he can compare my pain to something like that?_

After a few more seconds, Forrest stood up and walked away.

* * *

Zars stared out over the arena with excitement in his eyes.

King Fyx patted his son on the head then addressed the crowd in the area.

"Hello, my fellow Wingals! How are you all feeling tonight?" he shouted in what appeared to be a microphone. His voice boomed around the arena.

The crowd cheered for a few moments until Fyx silenced them with a motion of his hand.

"Today we celebrate my youngest child's birth with a tournament! This grand tournament will pit some of the best warriors on this planet against one another with the prize for victory defeating his competition over 5,000 crystal pieces and worldwide recognition! Now, without further ado, let the tournament begin!"

The crowd cheered as two warriors took to the center of the arena and got into ready stances.

Zars grinned widely in excitement, missing how there was a slight movement in his shadow.

* * *

Fea and Princess both sat in a room, the two talking with wide smiles on their faces.

"-and it turns out Horn had been saying "please mate with me", the entire time!" Fea said.

Princess began to loudly laugh at the end of the story, Fea joining in the laughter after a second.

The laughing eventually died down, Princess pulling out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes before passing it to Fea, who thanked her and used it to wipe her eyes as well.

"You and your team sound like you have incredible adventures." Princess took her handkerchief back when Fea offered it to her.

"Yup. We're all good friends and we have a lot of fun together when the situation isn't super serious. I'm sure Emu will fit right in with this team. After all, he already did something similar to Horn when he first met my father." Fea grinned.

"Oh? Is this going to be a good story?"

"You bet! So what happened with Emu wa-" before Fea could finish, the door opened with Maid walking in.

"Pardon me, Princess, Princess Fea, I was ordered to summon you to the arena for the tournament." Maid bowed.

Fea sprung to her feet.

"AH! I'M LATE!" she cried out in horror. She quickly turned and grabbed Princess's hand.

Princess blushed heavily as Fea started to run and dragged her with her.

"COME ON!"

"F-FEA!"

Maid was shoved out of the way as the two ran out of the room. She started to follow them. "Wait!"

* * *

Emu and Rina walked together down a stone path, Rina leading the way.

"-so basically, Sor is fine. He's going to be in the hospital for a few days for his injuries, but he'll be fine." Rina explained.

Emu nodded. "That's good to hear. At least he made it out with minor injuries."

The two stopped when another figure stepped out in front of them.

"Forrest? What's wrong?" Rina asked, the figure revealed to be Forrest.

Forrest ignored her, instead staring at Emu.

"Emu. Fight me. Use your pain as your strength and prove what you feel." Forrest simply said.

Emu stared back at Forrest as Rina sighed. "Will you just lighten up already? He's-"

"Stay out of this, Rina." Forrest interrupted her. "I came to settle an issue with Emu. I'm not letting you interfere."

Just as Rina opened her mouth to speak, Emu then spoke over her.

"Fine. I'll fight you." Emu said. "But if I win, you'll at least hear me out."

"Wha-? Emu, you're just going to interrupt me too?" Rina said to him.

"Follow me." Forrest turned and started to walk off. Emu followed after him, with Rina sighing before she went after the two.

After a bit of time, the two were now standing across from each other in a field, Rina behind Emu.

"Emu, at least make a bit of sense here. There's no point to fighting him." Rina tried.

"If I have to communicate through fighting then that's what I have to do. I don't want to do it either but if I want to be on the same team as Forrest, I'm going to have to fight him before we start working together." Emu turned to her to say.

"Ugh, why can't you two just talk it out like normal living beings would? Why does it have to be so complicated between you two?" Rina groaned.

"Are we fighting or what?" Forrest called to Emu.

Emu turned to Forrest and then back to Rina. He shrugged and turned back to Forrest. "I'll try it, I guess." He said. He then opened his mouth to call out to Forrest. "We've both lost stuff important to us. I know that my pain can never compare to yours, ever. But why can't we work together to ensure that no one ever has to suffer what we've suffered again?"

Forrest grit his teeth and anger then got into a ready stance.

Emu nodded and turned to Rina. "That's why. Trust me, some people you just can't talk it out with. I speak from personal experience." He cracked his knuckles then got into a ready stance of his own.

"Alright, but if you get injured before you even start working, don't blame me when Mrs. Venus gets onto you." Rina rubbed her hand over the gills on the side of her neck then backed out of the way.

As soon as she was clear, Forrest dashed towards Emu. When he got to a certain point, he jumped into the air to tackle Emu. Emu barely stepped to the left enough to be grazed by the attack, Forrest catching him and sending him to the ground. Forrest landed on his feet as Emu landed on his back. He promptly rolled out of the way as Forrest tried to drive his claws into his stomach.

Emu got onto his knees only to get kneed in the face by Forrest.

Emu did get to his feet, Forrest jumping into the air and rearing his arm back. Emu moved to the side and grabbed at Forrest's arm as it came flying where his face just was. He tugged on the arm and pivoted on his foot, sending Forrest falling face-first onto the ground.

Emu stepped back while Forrest sprung upwards onto his hands and knees, getting onto his feet then spinning around to punch at his opponents face. Said opponent ducked and then tackled Forrest to knock them both onto the ground.

Rina winced as the two landed on the ground with a loud THUD!

She continued to watch as Forrest got Emu off of him and the two got back to fighting. Without a second thought, she pulled out her Rift Closer and activated it.

Back with the two fighting, Emu had Forrest's foot driven across his cheek which sent him down onto his side. Forrest picked Emu up by his collar and then drove his fist into his stomach.

Emu fell onto his knees in pain but did manage to dive out of the way as Forrest tried to strike him again. The human hit the ground and lashed out with his foot to strike Forrest's leg. The leg was swept out from underneath Forrest, him losing his balance for a brief moment.

Emu got to his feet quickly and jabbed at Forrest. Forrest managed to divert the attack so it missed but didn't miss the follow up punch that Emu performed onto his chest.

Forrest stumbled backwards but Emu punched him in the stomach, shoulder, and then across his cheek. He proceeded to drive his knee into his stomach as he fell as well.

Emu took some steps backwards, panting as he clutched at his now sore cheek.

Forrest sat up and got onto his feet. His eyes met Emu's, Emu having a hesitant and reluctant look on his face while Forrest looked excited, but his expression turned angry very quickly.

"You're not taking this seriously, are you?" he growled.

Emu swallowed the saliva he had in his mouth before he began to speak. "Look Forrest, can't this be enough? I don't want us to seriously hurt each other and we're going to get pretty far if we keep going."

Forrest jumped at Emu, tackling him to the ground harshly. He backed away from the human and stood up, angrily looking down at Emu. "If you're not going to take this seriously then I should stop bothering, shouldn't I? You just can't stop trying to vex me, can you?"

"People still use the word vex?" Emu said to himself as he got onto his knees.

"You were holding back towards the end, weren't you? You couldn't hold up your lie anymore so you just wanted to give up, right?" Forrest asked.

"…lie?" Emu whispered to himself.

"This is not the pain of someone who's lost something. Never, ever lie to me again." Forrest leaned down to growl at Emu. He turned and started to walk away. Rina passed by him to go to Emu.

Before she even got close, a wind blew through the area out of nowhere, its ferocity startling Rina and Forrest as it blew Rina's hair into her face and lightly knocking the two off balance.

Emu's hair moved with the wind, flowing around wildly. Emu's eyes glowed a bright silver color but the light died down quicker than it showed up.

* * *

In the arena, Mrs. Venus was watching the tournament when she heard a light beep from her wrist.

"That's weird." Mrs. Venus looked down at her brace.

"What's wrong?" Mars asked.

"I just got a trace of Rift Energy, but it was almost too tiny to trace and way too minor to be serious. But that's rare in and of itself." She explained.

* * *

"Forrest." Emu's voice was loud enough to boom across the field. In his tone, there was a hint of fury as he tried to gain the attention of the wolf-like Rift Guardian.

Forrest turned around to face Emu, an irritated expression on his face. "What?"

Rina on the other hand was taken by surprise at Emu's change in tone.

"You think I'm lying." The response Emu had was more of a statement than a question. However, what was surprising was how angry his tone was. He looked up to glare at Forrest, his jaw clenched and his eyes full of rage. "You. Dumbass. Motherfucker." Emu growled, getting to his feet.

"Emu?" Rina gently tried to talk to him.

Forrest grit his teeth and walked towards Emu. He didn't at all notice that a glowing red aura began to form around the humans fingers.

"If you're that desperate for me to hurt you more, I'm more than happy to c-GUH!" Forrest was silenced as the Emu's glowing red fist slammed into his cheek, sending him flying with much more force than he had previously used.

Emu walked towards Forrest slowly, the energy trailing across his hand.

"Hey, Emu, I th-" Emu shoved Rina out of the way as she tried to come up to talk to him. "Wha-Emu!" she called after him, but was ignored.

Forrest got to his feet and checked his lips, finding a small bit of silver blood coming out of his mouth. He looked up just in time for Emu to slam his still glowing fist into his stomach, followed by his chest and then his cheek. But as Forrest fell to the ground, Emu grabbed his collar to stop his body from fully falling. He pulled his opponent back up and then drove his fist into his cheek again.

"Emu, stop!" Rina ran up behind Emu and grabbed his shoulder, pulling it back to turn him away from Forrest. She moved to Forrest's side and checked on him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Emu shouted at Forrest.

"What's wrong with him? Emu, what the hell is wrong with you?" Rina demanded.

"Why would I EVER lie about that? You think that I'm so desperate for this shit that I'd make up a story?! Are you that fucking dense!?" Emu screamed.

Forrest looked up to glare at Emu, getting to his feet despite protests from Rina.

"Dense? You think that because I don't believe you that means that I'm naïve or something?" he growled.

"Don't you talk down to me. You don't get that right with the shit that's coming out of you, asshole." Emu grabbed Forrest by the collar and pulled him closer.

Forrest looked down at Emu, not intimidated in the slightest.

"And what makes you think you have the right to assume that you're the same as me? What makes you think that you can just start lying to me about this?" Forrest hissed.

Emu pulled Forrest closer, scowling at him.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Never say that shit to me again. You lost your world, I get that. But don't you ever fucking accuse me of lying about what's happened to me." Emu furiously spat. "I have had pain of my own and even though how it happened to me wasn't the same as what happened to you…you. DO. NOT! Get to erase my pain and pretend it never happened. No evidence or not, take my word for it. I'm not pathetic enough to lie to your dumb ass about this."

Forrest didn't respond at first, simply staring the human in the eyes. He did, however, look to be rather surprised by how ferocious Emu had suddenly turned and his actions and behavior.

After a moment, Forrest finally responded. "And what if I don't believe you?"

Emu answered him by throwing his glowing fist upwards to viciously uppercut Forrest and send him flying backwards. As he flew, a coin flew out of his pocket, along with two Rift Closers. He stepped forward when Rina stepped in. Grabbing him by the shoulder, Rina spun him around so he was facing her and then drove her hand across his cheek with a loud slapping noise.

"KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!" She yelled angrily at him. Emu turned to face her, holding his cheek with wide, shocked eyes. The red energy died away as his attitude and stature seemed to calm down significantly.

"CUT THE BULLSHIT!" She said but stopped herself after that and sighed, trying to calm down. "I've had it up to hear with you two and your fucking drama. We are supposed to be a team and so far you two aren't acting like good teammates at all! If you don't stop and just talk it out, next time I'll stop you with a lot more than just a slap, you got that?!"

Emu nodded, swallowing a breath as he turned towards Forrest.

Forrest was avoiding his gaze as he picked up the Rift Closers. He noticed the coin and quickly grabbed that as well.

"That coin must be really important to you." Emu panted.

"Shut up." Forrest growled back as he struggled to get to his feet.

Emu walked over and helped Forrest up, but Forrest shoved him off very quickly to finish getting to his feet himself.

"I'm sorry Forrest, I don't know what-"

"Stop talking." Forrest interrupted before he tossed Emu his Rift Closer. "Just take it and get out of my sight."

Emu looked down at the Rift Closer with a solemn stare. He then glanced backwards up at Forrest and tossed his Rift Closer back to Forrest.

"No."

Forrest caught the Rift Closer with a confused look appearing on his face.

"I'm not worthy of it yet. I won't accept anything from you until you can accept me. If fighting won't get my message across then talking will have to do." Emu explained.

"…fine, I'll hear you out. Start talking." Forrest said.

"I want to fight. I want to help. I may not have ever felt your pain but I know how it feels. I know what it means to lose someone, just like you do. But at the same time, I'm using this pain to fight. To make sure that no one ever has to feel the same pain as I have and that they feel protected and safe. That's why I want to be a Rift Guardian. And if I am going to be a part of this team I need to work well with everyone, including you. So please, just give me a chance to fight to protect the universe." Emu monologued in a pleading tone.

The three sat in silence for several moments, no one knowing what to say.

Eventually, Emu opened his mouth to start talking again. "So what about it, Forrest? Are you going to get in my way any longer or can I get to work on saving lives?"

"What if you can't save the planet, though? What if the planet and the lives you worked so hard to save die off?" Forrest asked.

"They won't. I guarantee that I'll lose my own life before I let anyone or thing that I'm protecting die." Emu answered without a single ounce of hesitation.

Forrest stared at Emu then looked down at the Rift Closer in his hand. He glanced at the coin in his other hand for a moment, thinking heavily on the subject. After a few seconds of thought, he sighed and tossed the Rift Closer to Emu.

"I'll give you one chance. Don't mess it up."

Emu nodded with a grin forming on his face. "Thank you, Forrest. I won't let you down."

Rina cautiously walked towards them. "Is that it? Are we good?"

"I hope so." Emu eyed Forrest.

"…don't give me that look ever again and we'll be just fine." Forrest responded.

Emu gave a slow nod in response to show he understood.

"Hey guys!" the three heard from the side.

Horn entered the field, waving to the three nonchalantly.

"What's up?" Horn greeted.

"RINA!" Above him, Fea flew in, only stopping when she was in front of Rina. "Why did you call me? I was in the middle of something with this really cute girl!" Fea whined.

Horn walked up to the others with a calm expression.

Rina sheepishly rubbed her arm. "Sorry Fea, it worked itself out. I thought I needed backup for Emu and Forrest fighting each other. But the good news is that they're somewhat on the same page." She admitted.

"Wait, they were fighting? That sounds so entertaining, why did I miss that?" Fea whined.

"So who won?" Horn asked.

Forrest and Emu glanced at each other then back to the new arrivals. "I lost/it was a tie" Forrest/Emu said in unison. The two glanced at each other in surprise when Rina got between them.

"The important thing is that you two are agreeing to work together. So after Emu becomes a full-fledged Rift Guardian, we can all work as a team a lot more than before." Rina said.

The others nodded, aside from Horn, who was simply thinking to himself. Eventually, he spoke up. "You know, this reminds me a lot of the Super Sentai, what do you guys think?" Horn asked.

"Hm?" Emu looked at Horn. "Super Sentai?"

"Oh, yeah, all across the universe there are teams like us that join together to fight evil. They've collectively become known as Super Sentai, with each team having their own name, like Ressha Sentai ToQGer, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger, Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger, etc." Rina explained.

"Yeah, we're kind of like one of those teams. There's five of us that have differently colored suits, we're of varying personalities and ages, I think." Fea realized.

"Really? So in that case, we would be…Sekai Sentai: RiftRanger, right?" Emu put his hand to his chin and smiled.

"Sekai Sentai RiftRanger? That's not bad, actually." Rina grinned, patting Emu's shoulder.

"...okay. That's fine with me." Forrest crossed his arms with a bored expression.

"You're getting the hang of this team thing, Emu!" Horn patted Emu's other shoulder, though unlike Rina, he was much stronger, resulting in Emu getting off balance and wincing slightly in pain.

"If we're a Sentai, does that mean we get to have a team pose?" Fea suggested.

"No." Emu instantly replied.

"Oh! That sounds awesome! I'd love that!" Horn excitedly nodded.

"Horn, no."

"I don't see any problem with a team pose. We already call out our worlds." Forrest shrugged.

"Guys, I'm not being a part of a team pose."

"C'mon Emu, have a little fun." Rina said. "It's just a pose, it's not like it's gonna kill you."

"I…" Emu started to speak but just sighed and gave up. "Fine, let's get this over with."

* * *

A bit later, Princess clapped politely as she looked around, trying to find Fea. The tournament was officially over, with the victor in the center of the area while bowing to King Fyx.

"Milady, are you alright?" Maid asked, the maid sitting in the seat next to Princess. Meanwhile, the seat next to Princess was unoccupied, presumably where Fea was sitting.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." Princess replied, only half-paying attention.

"Are you looking for Princess Fea?" Maid asked.

Princess gave a simple nod in response.

Maid bit the inside of her cheek and turned towards the stadium as Zars stood in front of King Fyx and the tournament champion. The tournament champion got down on one knee and bent his head towards the young Prince.

"Look my Princess, he's swearing allegiance." Maid tried.

Princess sighed and turned to face the three in the arena. However, after staring for a few seconds, Princess narrowed her eyes at the shadow of Zars.

 _Wait…is that…oh. Idiot._

She kept her eyes focused on the shadow as her eyes lit up a darker blue.

Maid noticed this but kept silent as her mistress went to work.

In front of the entire stadium, Dark Knight was suddenly exposed, his ability shutting down and leaving him standing behind Zars and before King Fyx and the tournament champion.

King Fyx jumped back in surprise as the crowd let out cries of shock.

Dark Knight seemed to realize that they were reacting to him, quickly drawing his dagger and holding it to Zars's throat.

In the stands, Mrs. Venus held her brace up to her mouth.

* * *

"No! That's not what I meant!" Horn yelled at Forrest. "How aren't you getting this!?"

Forrest just stood there with his arms crossed, uncaring.

Rina turned to Horn. "Maybe we could compromise. He seems to like doing that no matter what so we could just have him do it in the pose."

Forrest shook his head but sighed in agreement.

"Fine. We'll compromise." Horn groaned.

Emu stood up straight and faced Horn. "Hey, are you positive that I have to do that pose? And why am I in the center of the group?"

"It'll look better when we're in our suits, I told you that already! Besides, as red, that automatically makes you the center of the Sentai pose!" Horn explained/exclaimed.

"I'm barely even a RiftRanger though. Why do I have to be in the center, it'd make much more sense for Forrest or Rina to be in the center as they're the most like leaders." Emu pointed out.

Before Horn could respond, Rina's Rift Closer started beeping. She pulled it out and pressed the button to turn it on. A screen formed with Mrs. Venus's face on it.

"There's an enemy here at the stadium. You guys get down here and help take care of him." She ordered before the screen vanished.

"She got to the point fast." Emu remarked.

"Okay, you heard her. Let's get moving." Forrest ordered. He prepared to leave when Fea stopped him and held up her Rift Closer.

"I know the way like I know how much feathers my wings have! I can get us there through a Rift." She held out her Rift Closer and pressed a button.

A Rift opened in front of the five.

"…how many feathers do you have on your wings?" Horn leaned in to ask Fea.

"Last time I checked 256." Fea said before the five jumped into the Rift.

They exited the Rift on the other side, which was in the center of the arena with Dark Knight and Zars about 20 feet away.

"Zars?!" Fea's eyes widened as she noticed her brother being held captive.

"Fea! Help!" Zars called.

"Quiet." Dark Knight ordered.

"Let the kid go Dark Knight. Or it won't turn out very pretty for you." Forrest put his hands in his pockets.

"Hey…does anyone notice how there's a crowd of people staring at us?" Rina stepped behind Emu as if she was trying to hide.

"You of all people have stage fright? Are you kidding me?" Emu eyed her.

"What is stage fright?" Horn said.

"Something I don't have. I'll explain later. Let's just get going." Emu pulled out his Rift Closer.

"…fine. I love a good challenge." Dark Knight removed his dagger and shoved Zars away, the prince running to his father quickly.

The five Rift Guardians got into a line with Emu in the center, Rina and Horn to his right while Forrest and Fea were to his left. The four drew their Rift Closers.

"Open The Rift!" Their Rift Closers opened, showing off the insides.

 **Rift Opened!**

"Connect the Worlds!" They held their Rift Closers out to the side, Rifts in their individual colors forming for everyone except Fea. Lightning and electricity surged from Emu's red Rift to cover him.

Wind surrounded Fea with feathers flying in from the side to swirl around her with the wind, which turned a bright white as her suit formed.

 **Garuda! World Connected!**

 **Kraken! World Connected!**

 **Werewolf! World Connected!**

 **Pegasus! World Connected!**

 **Minotaur! World Connected!**

Within seconds, the suits finished forming for all five with each of them plugging their Rift Closers into their belts.

MinotaurRanger walked over to GarudaRanger.

"You're up Emu!" MinotaurRanger patted GarudaRanger on his shoulder, accidentally knocking him forward a small bit.

GarudaRanger sighed but cracked his neck as MinotaurRanger walked back to where he was before.

GarudaRanger threw his right arm into the air "The Thunder World! GarudaRanger!" He held his right arm in front of him with his palm facing towards him while his left arm was loosely extended to his left.

KrakenRanger punched her fist into her left hand "The Water World! KrakenRanger!" She held her left hand outwards while her right was held in a fist by her head.

WerewolfRanger held his left hand over his face and his right in front of him "The Void World! WerewolfRanger!" He widened his stance and held his left hand to the side with his right across his chest, his claws bared forwards.

PegasusRanger extended her arms out to the side "The Sky World! PegasusRanger!" Her wings extended and lightly flapped as she lowered her arms to her sides.

MinotaurRanger flexed his arms "The Rock World! MinotaurRanger!" He kneeled while punching the ground.

The five got out of their poses. The red Rift Guardian held up his right hand before he folded it into a fist.

"Our worlds are connected by our hearts!" GarudaRanger pounded his right fist over his heart.

"Sekai Sentai!" The five held their left arms across their chest while their right arms were perpendicular to their left, forming a plus shape.

"RiftRanger!"

The five got into a group pose. GarudaRanger was in the center, crouched down on his right knee while his other leg was fully extended to the side, his feet facing forward so his talons could be seen. His left hand was pointed forward in front of him while his right arm was extended fully to his side. His wings curved enough to wrap around him but not to mask him from view, his left wing around him enough to show the inside while his rightwas extended to the end of his arm.

To the left was KrakenRanger while WerewolfRanger was on the right, the two pivoted away from GarudaRanger in their respective position. KrakenRanger had her right hand held in front of her while her left arm was pointed forwards to show off her scales and her feet were about shoulder-width apart and showed off her suction cups. WerewolfRanger on the other hand had crossed his arms but kept his hands exposed to show off his claws while his feet were placed together and the claws on his feet were pointed towards Dark Knight.

Behind the three were MinotaurRanger and PegasusRanger. MinotaurRanger was on the left and spaced so that she could be seen between GarudaRanger and KrakenRanger. PegasusRanger was on the right and spaced so she could be seen between GarudaRanger and WerewolfRanger. MinotaurRanger had his right arm pointed into the air with his fist clenched to show off his arm while his left arm was flexed off to the side and his right leg was faced towards Dark Knight to show off his calf muscles. PegasusRanger had her left arm pointed into the air to show off her feathers while her right arm was held out to her right side and her left leg was faced towards Dark Knight to show off the fur.

"…what nonsense is this?" Dark Knight looked at the pose in confusion.

"I asked myself that exact same question." GarudaRanger said while exiting his pose and drawing his gun and turning it into its dagger mode.

KrakenRanger stepped forward and drew her own gun.

"Now, let's change the world!" she aimed her gun at Dark Knight before jumping into the air.

"…she got into this role fast." GarudaRanger commented.

"Rina's like that a lot." WerewolfRanger crossed his arms as he stepped next to GarudaRanger.

MinotaurRanger and PegasusRanger then ran into battle as well. PegasusRanger pressed the button on her Rift Closer as well.

 **Wing Bow!**

"Well, I guess we should get going." GarudaRanger patted WerewolfRanger on the shoulder.

"Don't ever touch me again." WerewolfRanger brushed the hand of his shoulder.

 **Zero Sabers!**

"Guess it can't be helped." GarudaRanger shrugged.

 **Shock Lance!**

KrakenRanger lashed out with a kick to Dark Knight, striking him across the chest seconds before PegasusRanger flew in from above and blasted at Dark Knight with her Wing Bow, a weapon that resembled a bow with both edges resembling a pair of wings. Pulling the string back resulted in a clear energy arrow designed after a feather forming. Releasing the string fired the arrow at Dark Knight. Dark Knight was hit by the attack and promptly punched in the chest by MinotaurRanger, the strength behind the punch sending Dark Knight flying backwards.

Dark Knight landed on the ground and quickly looked up to find that the three RiftRangers attacking him were almost upon him. So he looked around and quickly dove into the nearest shadow he could find, vanishing from sight.

"Wait, where did he g-AH!" MinotaurRanger was answered when Dark Knight jumped out of a shadow and buried the heel of his foot into his neck. Dark Knight then jumped into another shadow to vanish from sight once more.

"Oh no you don't!" GarudaRanger flapped his wings while jumping, flying through the air but hovering over his teammates and pointing his Shock Lance downwards. It flashed briefly, the flash getting rid of the shadows and revealing Dark Knight was behind KrakenRanger and preparing to strike her.

"Rina!" PegasusRanger took aim and released the arrow in the span of a second, the attack striking Dark Knight in his helmet to stun him.

WerewolfRanger roared as he charged from behind, swinging his swords around to hit Dark Knight all over his back. GarudaRanger dove downwards and stabbed at Dark Knight with his Shock Lance. The attack made contact and sent the knight stumbling backwards before GarudaRanger drove his knife into Dark Knight's stomach.

KrakenRanger blasted at Dark Knight next while GarudaRanger ducked to avoid getting hit by the blast.

GarudaRanger and WerewolfRanger both got out of the way as MinotaurRanger ran in with a yell, shoulder tackling Dark Knight and knocking him to the ground.

However, Dark Knight landed in a shadow and vanished instantly.

"This is gonna get annoying." GarudaRanger readied his Shock Lance.

Suddenly, there was a loud pulse from above. Several balls of orange light formed and shone around them, removing any shadows from the area and as a result, any place for Dark Knight to hide.

Said knight appeared not too far away from MinotaurRanger.

"What the-?" GarudaRanger looked at the balls of light in confusion.

"Hey! Don't get distracted now." Mrs. Venus teased as she walked into the arena from the side with Mars behind her. Her right hand was glowing the same color as the balls of light. "Get to work guys." Mrs. Venus smirked.

"Got it." MinotaurRanger charged at Dark Knight again.

The yellow RiftRanger attempted to tackle his target, only for Dark Knight to move out of the way at the last second, only partially getting hit as a result.

"Up here!" PegasusRanger flew over Dark Knight while firing at him, arrows raining down to strike him anywhere they could.

WerewolfRanger growled as he lunged forward while tossing his Zero Sabers away, burying his claws into Dark Knight then driving them downwards to scratch him all down the front. He dove out of the way as KrakenRanger came flying in.

The blue RiftRanger performed an axe kick to the face of Dark Knight then blasted him in the chest before delivering several more kicks to his face and then firing repeatedly at him.

"Here we go!" GarudaRanger then ran in behind KrakenRanger and drove his Shock Lance forward. KrakenRanger easily maneuvered out of the way as he pulled the trigger, an electric shock surging into Dark Knight. GarudaRanger moved along the weapon while keeping his hand on the trigger and then burying his dagger into the knights' shoulder. After retrieving it, he flapped his wings and took into the air, delivering a kick to Dark Knight's chin as he did.

Dark Knight fell onto his back in pain as GarudaRanger landed safely on the ground a few feet away, the rest of the RiftRangers grouping back up around him.

"Hey, what about a team finish?" PegasusRanger asked. "Before we arrest him, I mean."

"Team finish? How would that work?" KrakenRanger asked.

"Let's try this!" MinotaurRanger drew his gun and Rift Closer before plugging the Rift Closer onto the slot on the device.

"Fine." WerewolfRanger did the same.

PegasusRanger gave a silent "yes!" before she did the same.

KrakenRanger took the Rift Closer off her belt and plugged it into her gun.

"Alright. Might as well." GarudaRanger sighed and then tossed his Shock Lance away before converting his dagger back to gun mode and plugging his Rift Closer onto it.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

Around the five, red electricity, blue water, black energy, yellow rocks, and white wind energy surged from small Rifts on their weapons.

 **Garuda Zap!**

 **Kraken Splash!**

 **Werewolf Claw!**

 **Pegasus Flap!**

 **Minotaur Smack!**

 **Stun!**

The energy traveled into the barrels of their guns as they aimed the weapons at Dark Knight, who was getting to his feet.

 **"** **Rift! World Crasher!"** The five chorused before pulling the trigger.

Five beams of energy corresponding to each of them fired from the barrels of their guns to strike Dark Knight all over his body depending on who was firing.

They stopped firing after a bit and spun around to pose with their guns in the air as Dark Knight was covered in multicolored energy. He fell to the ground and was covered in an explosion.

However, the size of the explosion shocked GarudaRanger, KrakenRanger, and PegasusRanger.

"Jesus Christ! Why the hell was that so explosion so big?!" GarudaRanger spun around after stumbling forward.

"That's never happened before. Maybe the five combined energies caused a much bigger explosion than we're used to." KrakenRanger theorized.

"Whatever the reason, it was kind of cool." PegasusRanger commented.

"Focus." WerewolfRanger sighed and then walked over to Dark Knight. As he pulled out his Rift Closer, he paused upon seeing a small light forming at the knights' waist. The light was a Rift, energy travelling from it and over Dark Knight's body.

"Hang on a tick…" WerewolfRanger started to back away.

Dark Knight suddenly shot to his feet as the Rift vanished.

"Oh. I don't think that's good." MinotaurRanger pointed.

Dark Knight roared as the energy covered him more and more. Then he began to grow. And grow. And grow. And he kept growing more and more, towering over the RiftRangers soon enough with the five backing away slowly.

"…oh fuck." GarudaRanger said.

Soon enough, Dark Knight was larger than Minotaur Legend, the largest of the five Rift Legends.

He looked down at the five RiftRangers and stepped forward, his foot about to crush the five.

"OH FUCK!" GarudaRanger shouted, turning to the side to wrap his arms around KrakenRanger's waist.

"Eh?" she said in surprise before GarudaRanger flapped his wings and got the two of them out of the way.

PegasusRanger took WerewolfRanger by the hand and flapped her wings as well to fly off while MinotaurRanger instead just turned and sprinted, the three barely clearing the range.

The crowd cleared out of the area quickly while GarudaRanger landed on the ground to set down KrakenRanger.

"…uh…thanks." She awkwardly said to him while pulling out her Rift Closer.

"You're welcome." GarudaRanger said, pulling out his Rift Closer as well.

The other three ran up to them while getting ready.

"Rift Legends, come here!"

Within seconds, the Rifts formed with the Rift Legends appearing from them. The five RiftRangers stepped into their Rifts and the control areas of their respective Rift Legends. They plugged their Rift Closers into the slots, activating their machines.

* * *

Garuda Legend looked up and then jumped at Dark Knight. It lashed out with a punch to Dark Knight as Werewolf Legend clawed at Dark Knight.

The attacks did little before Dark Knight swatted at the two and easily knocked them to the ground by hitting them across the head.

Kraken Legend came at him from behind, wrapping its tentacles around him and restraining its movements for Minotaur Legend to sprint forwards. The Rift Legend crashed into Dark Knight and sent him stumbling backwards. Not by much, though, as Dark Knight quickly regained his footing and slammed the bottom of his fist into the back of Minotaur Legend to knock the Rift Legend face first onto the ground before he grabbed Kraken Legend and struggled to tug it off.

Pegasus Legend promptly flew in and headbutted him, though that did little to hurt him before he headbutted Pegasus Legend back and sent it flying backwards.

"Come on!" GarudaRanger's voice came from Garuda Legend. "Together!"

Garuda Legend flew into the air while Werewolf Legend and Minotaur Legend charged at Dark Knight, who was still struggling with Kraken Legend.

Minotaur Legend once again tackled Dark Knight while Werewolf Legend jumped onto the back of the yellow Rift Legend to start clawing at Dark Knight. Dark Knight shoved them off while Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend came flying in. Garuda Legend spun almost like a drill to strike Dark Knight in the stomach while Pegasus Legend hovered over their opponent and stomped on him with its feet. Kraken Legend wrapped its tentacles around his throat and tightened them as the assault continued.

Minotaur Legend came in from the side and slammed its fist into the side of Dark Knight while Werewolf Legend drove its claws into Dark Knight as well.

Dark Knight pushed the two off of him but the space allowed Garuda Legend to jump in and unleash a barrage of attacks to the body of Dark Knight.

* * *

Inside of Garuda Legend, GarudaRanger attacked the air, Garuda Legend performing his attacks exactly.

However, inside his helmet, Emu's eyes lit up a bright silver color as red energy started to cover his body.

* * *

Garuda Legend's fist glowed a bright red color as it drove itself into Dark Knight's cheek to knock him flying back.

Kraken Legend flew off of Dark Knight and hovered near Garuda Legend with the others gathering around them.

"Good job, Emu!" MinotaurRanger's voice came from Minotaur Legend.

Garuda Legend shook his head while his hand reached up to his face.

"Emu?" KrakenRanger worriedly said.

"Something…feels weird." GarudaRanger quietly said.

"Hey, you okay?" Pegasus Legend stepped next to Garuda Legend and tilted its head curiously.

* * *

GarudaRanger's black visor had two piercing silver lights shine from inside the helmet. The red energy coming off of him entered the Rift Closer nearby.

The Rift Closer shone a bright color and then emitted a brilliant red light as a voice came out of it.

 **Legends, Combine!**

* * *

The five Rift Legends started to glow their respective colors, everyone reacting with shock as they also started to float into the air.

"Hey! What's going on?" PegasusRanger exclaimed.

"I don't like this!" MinotaurRanger cried out.

"What." WerewolfRanger simply said.

"Hang on, I think I've seen something like this before." KrakenRanger said.

GarudaRanger didn't say anything.

The Rift Legends started to move around and shift in place as the energy covered them and formed a protective shield.

Minotaur Legend shifted around, its legs and arms folding into its body. Its body split into two with part of the bottom half folding upwards to resemble feet.

Garuda Legend also folded up, its legs folding into each other then folding up to attach to its sides. Its arms on the other hand folded onto its back with its wings popping off.

Werewolf Legend roared and jumped into the air to have a panel on its chest and back open so its arms and legs could fold into them before the panel closed again.

Kraken Legend swam into the air with an arm extending out of the bottom of its body. The legs straightened out and combined to the sides of the arm.

Pegasus Legend had its legs combine and fold upwards into its body.

The bottom of Garuda Legend attached to the shoulders of Minotaur Legend while exposing the head as a kind of belt buckle. Then Kraken Legend attached to the right side of the body while Werewolf Legend attached to the left side of the body, the two forming arms. Pegasus Legend attached to the back of Garuda Legend in the space between its arms. The wings of Garuda Legend attached to the wings of Pegasus Legend. The head of Pegasus Legend popped off with the head folding upwards all the way, a face appearing on the neck in its place. The face of Garuda Legend pivoted upwards to show off the neck and bottom of the head. The head of Pegasus Legend attached over the face and head of Garuda Legend, forming a humanoid face that was silver with blue eyes. There was a small mouth near the chin of the face and there were markings on the side of the face in the form of three lines on each cheek that were yellow, pink, and black.

* * *

"UWAGH!" GarudaRanger fell to the ground as the shifting stopped.

"Wait, Emu?" KrakenRanger's voice came from the same room as him.

GarudaRanger turned in place to find that KrakenRanger was to the right of him on a floating platform of her own and using the stand near her as a balance. Not only her, but he was surprised to find a crouching WerewolfRanger next to her.

"What just happened?" MinotaurRanger asked from the other side.

GarudaRanger sat up and turned to the other side to find PegasusRanger next to him on her knees while MinotaurRanger was next to her and on all fours.

"What's going on? Why are we all in Pegasus Legend?" PegasusRanger asked.

"No, we're in Minotaur Legend, I don't think I'd just leave my Rift Legend like that," MinotaurRanger got onto one knee.

"I don't think it's either." WerewolfRanger stood up. "It wouldn't make sense for all of us to be suddenly in someone else's Rift Legend."

"We should be in our own Rift Legends, so if we are all sharing the same space, then that must mean our Rift Legends combined." KrakenRanger looked around the room.

"Wait, they could have done that the entire time?!" GarudaRanger got to his feet.

"Only in certain cases. And it requires a lot of Rift Energy or the altering of the machines themselves. Which makes me wonder how and why this happened." WerewolfRanger said.

"But this is good though!" MinotaurRanger stood up. "Combined mecha are a staple of the Super Sentai teams, so having one ourselves is a good thing!"

"…how do you know so much about these teams?" GarudaRanger asked.

"Horn is a big fan of the Super Sentai. It's really no surprise that he'd know about giant robots forming out of nowhere." PegasusRanger stood up as well.

However, as soon as she did, the five faced towards Dark Knight with their body positioning and stances almost exactly matching each other. The eyes on their helmets lit up.

* * *

The giant humanoid looked up towards Dark Knight as its eyes began glowing brightly.

 **Complete! Rift Master!**

* * *

"Rift Master?" GarudaRanger repeated. He soon lifted his arm up experimentally to see if the giant robot responded, only for his head to snap downwards to look at his arm.

"Did my hand just move on my own?" PegasusRanger asked.

GarudaRanger turned to look at her. "So did my head."

"Why are we facing this way?" WerewolfRanger demanded.

True to his word, the heads of the five RiftRangers were facing in PegasusRanger's direction, only she was facing that way too.

KrakenRanger turned her head back to Dark Knight with the others following her movements.

"Hang on, let me try something." She requested. Slowly, she raised her arm up only to find that the other four were doing the exact same thing at exactly the same moment. Then they all lowered their arms.

After experimentally moving her arm for a few more seconds, she then proceeded to jump into the air and perform a backflip, the other four mimicking her movements exactly.

"Wait, Rina!" MinotaurRanger tried to call just before they jumped.

The five promptly fell flat on their face instead of landing on their feet softly.

"…owwwww. What was that?" PegasusRanger flapped her wings and floated back to her feet, the others just magically floating upwards onto their feet as well (aside from GarudaRanger, who actually had wings).

"I don't know, I thought since we were all making the same movements that we could do that." KrakenRanger rubbed her forehead in pain, the others doing the same movement.

"I can't do a backflip." MinotaurRanger revealed.

"I'm pretty sure this giant hunk of metal can't either." WerewolfRanger remarked.

"So it's like with the Rift Legends? This thing follows our movements exactly?" GarudaRanger said.

"Yeah, but since it's connected to all of us, if one of us can't match up to the movements, that means we all can't do it either." KrakenRanger said.

"But if we're all connected and sharing the same strength, then does that mean we're stronger than before?" PegasusRanger asked.

"We can try. Forrest, you want to take the lead?" GarudaRanger asked.

"Heh. With pleasure." WerewolfRanger cockily said before all five of them cracked their knuckles and then their necks.

"Ow!" KrakenRanger cried out before the five grabbed their necks as if in pain.

"Rina, don't ruin the moment." MinotaurRanger called out to her.

"My neck isn't supposed to crack like that! I'm sorry that how my body works is different than how yours works!" KrakenRanger called back to him.

"Guys, focus!" GarudaRanger called to them.

* * *

The shield around Rift Master finally vanished.

Dark Knight, who had been trying to attack the shield this entire time and had not succeeded in breaking through it, had his attack fall through the space it was. Then the fist of Rift Master slammed into the cheek of Dark Knight.

Rift Master turned in place to slam its leg into Dark Knight's side before unleashing a barrage of punches to his chest.

Dark Knight stumbled backwards for a few seconds before Rift Master punched at him.

* * *

"Hey, Forrest, let me take control!" KrakenRanger glanced in his direction.

"Fine. Go ahead." WerewolfRanger sighed.

"Alright guys, I hope that your bodies can handle this." She said.

"Wait, what?" GarudaRanger spoke up.

* * *

Rift Master spread its legs to get into a loose ready stance.

Jumping into the air, the combined robot slammed its foot into Dark Knight's stomach and then swung its other leg around to drive its foot into his face. Upon landing, it spun around to kick at Dark Knight again and then knee him.

Dark Knight barely got a chance to do anything as Rift Knight continued to unleash multiple leg attacks to hit him.

* * *

"Hey, let me try!" MinotaurRanger said.

"Go ahead." KrakenRanger said.

* * *

Rift Master dashed towards Dark Knight and tried to tackle him. Dark Knight easily stepped out of the way of the attack but failed to miss the arm that swung out to hit him. Upon being hit, he pulled out a dagger and, in a frustrated state, attempted to stab at Rift Master.

The dagger sunk into the metal chest that belonged to Garuda Legend, though it did little damage. The fist of Rift Master met the face of Dark Knight.

* * *

"Hey, I wanna try!" PegasusRanger flapped her wings, starting to hover over her platform.

"Wait, no!" MinotaurRanger cried out as the other four started to levitate as well.

* * *

Rift Master started to fly around Dark Knight, diving down to hit him repeatedly.

The wings that belongs to Garuda Legend separated from the wings on the back and combined into a bow-like weapon.

Rift Master grabbed onto the weapon and held it towards Dark Knight. It reached out and grabbed onto the air near the bow, an energy arrow forming. The arrow was released a second later to strike Dark Knight in his chest.

* * *

"Hey, how can we fly? I thought it was that we all had to be able to do it." MinotaurRanger said as the five landed.

"I don't really think that matters right now." WerewolfRanger replied.

"Guys, I really think that we should be focusing more on arresting him than playing around with this." GarudaRanger pointed out.

"Hey, we're just having a bit of fun. This kind of thing isn't something we really thought we had before. This is as new to us as it is to you. Give it a spin if you want." KrakenRanger said to him.

"…okay." GarudaRanger shrugged at the same time as everyone else. Then the five pulled out their guns and converted them to knife mode, the blades glowing and enlarging to make the knives look more like swords, much to their surprise.

* * *

Rift Master looked towards Dark Knight as the bow in its hand floated into the air and folded up. Werewolf Legend's tail popped off and straightened. The horns on the Minotaur Legend popped off and attached to the tail to form a hilt. Then the folded-up wings of Garuda Legend attached onto the tail, forming a blade.

The newly formed sword landed in the grip of Rift Master, who experimentally swung it around a few times.

Finally, Rift Master raised up its sword and charged at Dark Knight.

Dark Knight ducked under a slash and jabbed at the stomach of Rift Master, who blocked the deflected the attack with its other arm then drove its blade into his shoulder. Dark Knight fell to the ground but quickly got back to his feet as Rift Master held up its sword, which began glowing.

* * *

GarudaRanger held his hand up to the glowing blade while holding the trigger down. The other four did the same before the five ran their hands up their blade, their respective element appearing on the blade and changing its color to match their suit.

* * *

Rift Master raised its sword above his head as it glowed red, blue, black, white, and yellow with the elements of the five RiftRangers surging through it.

 **Master Break! Dynamic!**

 **"** **United Rift DynamiCrush!"** The five chorused while slashing downwards.

Rift Master mimicked their movements and struck Dark Knight across his chest with the glowing blade.

"HA!" They slashed to the right while spinning around to face the opposite direction.

Rift Master copied their movements exactly and faced away from Dark Knight.

The energy covered Dark Knight and caused him massive pain, as evidenced by his screams and crying out. He raised his hand into the air.

"Master! Help me!" he shouted a second before he exploded.

Rift Master stared away from Dark Knight as the explosion happened behind it.

As it died down, Rift Master turned in place and held its left arm outwards.

* * *

WerewolfRanger held out his Rift Closer while pressing the button down.

 **Arrest!**

Whatever could be seen of Dark Knight from inside the explosion was turned into light before condensing into a ball shape and flying into Rift Master's hand. The ball of light entered the room the five were in and flew into WerewolfRanger's Rift Closer.

"Well, that was exciting." GarudaRanger looked towards the others. "That's it, right?"

It wasn't very long before everyone realized they weren't mimicking each others moves. Though they didn't seem to care much as they opened Rifts to leave the area.

* * *

An Hour Later…

King Fyx, Zars, and a bandaged Sor all bowed to the group of Rift Guardians (minus Fea).

"Thank you all for your service today. It pains me that we had to call you in on what was supposed to be a relatively safe and momentous occasion, but I thank you nonetheless for saving my son." Fyx said to the group.

"It was our pleasure, your highness." Emu said.

"I apologize for not being of much help during the situation, what with my injuries and all." Sor apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Rina tried to reassure him. "You were hurt by Dark Knight and weren't able to do much."

"Even so, it was a refreshing sight to see an entire team working together like that. And while it was surprising to see that man grow, it was even more surprising that you five had something to combat him." Fyx grinned.

"I was just amazed the two giants could fit inside of the arena." Sor said.

"Well, either way, I'm sure my son here rather enjoyed what happened, wouldn't you say so, Zars?" Fyx patted his son on the head.

"That was so cool!" the kid started to go off in his excited start repeating the poses and attacks of the RiftRangers.

"Hey, where's Fea?" Emu decided to speak over the kid.

"She said something about heading off to go talk to someone." Fyx explained.

* * *

Fea ran through a hallway while looking around at the people she passed.

"No…no…come on, where is she?" she said aloud.

"Are you looking for me?" a female voice called out.

Fea turned to see Princess standing off to the side with Maid standing next to her, Princess having her arms behind her back and a grin on her face.

"Ah! There you are. I was looking for you, yes." Fea walked over to her. "Are you guys okay?"

"I should be asking you that. You were the one out there fighting." Princess said.

"Nah, it was fine. I had my team out there in case I needed help. By the way, I'm really sorry that I had to leave you alone for a while." Fea sheepishly apologized.

"It's fine, I don't mind at all. Your work is important and to be honest, I thought you were really incredible out there, Fea." Princess said.

"Really? Thanks! I honestly thought you would be upset at me for having to go take care of something and leaving you behind." Fea sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"You shouldn't have been." Princess simply said.

"Still, I do feel a bit guilty about that."

"If it makes you feel better, I thought you looked rather nice in your Rift Guardian outfit." Princess lightly blushed.

"You really think so? Thanks!" Fea said. "Hey, I've gotta get going soon, my boss decided that we should probably head back early to report on what happened here. Can I get your contact information? I really want to see you again sometime after this."

"E-eh? You-you want to see me again?" Princess's blush spread across her face.

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?" Fea asked, pulling out her Rift Closer.

"Uh…I…um…" Princess stammered.

Fea held out her hand, her Rift Closer perched in her palm.

Princess pulled out her own communication device and held it out to Fea, tenderly taking the Rift Closer as she did. Fea held her hand over Princess's and pressed Princess's communication device to the Rift Closer before she pressed down on the button.

There was a quiet beeping noise for a second, to which Fea took back her hand and Rift Closer.

"Alright, I think that was it." Fea looked at Princess. "I've gotta go now."

"O-okay. I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"Yup. You'll be hearing from me soon, count on that." Fea backed away as she was talking. "Bye!" she waved then turned and ran off.

Princess waved with a blush and a smile on her face.

Maid on the other hand calmly walked over to Princess while looking at Fea. She turned back to Princess and smiled.

"Does this mean you have a girlfriend?"

"Shut up Maid!" Princess snapped, suddenly embarrassed.

"Eep! I'm sorry!"

* * *

A Few Hours Later…

A Rift opened inside of the base, Mrs. Venus stepping through it a second later with the rest of the team following and Forrest closing it.

"When can we do that again?" Horn stretched. "That was awesome!"

"The party or the giant robot?" Mars raised an eyebrow.

"Both, in my opinion." Mrs. Venus promptly left the room.

"So, I'm gonna head to my room and bathe. See you guys later." Fea waved and walked off.

"Oh, yeah. I should probably get cleaned up too. Later guys." Horn walked out as well.

Mars wordlessly walked out as well.

Emu turned to Forrest. "You're not going to go as well."

"No. If I'm right about what Mrs. Venus is doing then I don't want to miss this. I said you would get one chance and I want to make sure you don't mess up." Forrest crossed his arms.

"In other words, he really wants to see this happen and wants to congratulate you." Rina said.

"Not even close Rina." Forrest turned to her.

"You say that, but I know you."

Before Forrest could respond again, Mrs. Venus walked back in with a small metal box with a port on it.

"Emu, sign here by placing your Rift Closer into it." She explained.

Emu looked at the box and then to Rina and Forrest, both of whom nodded. He shrugged and pulled out his Rift Closer to plug it into the box.

 **Identity Confirmed. Finalizing…**

The box opened to reveal some kind of white cloth.

 **Welcome, Shinji Mirai, to the Rift Guardians.**

Emu blinked and then looked back up at Mrs. Venus.

"Your paperwork was finalized some time ago, with this box appearing because of it. Emu, you are officially a member of the Rift Guardians. Or, as you so put it: the "Sekai Sentai RiftRanger." Welcome to the team." Mrs. Venus grinned. "Here, put this on. It's your uniform."

Emu's face morphed into a grin as he pulled his Rift Closer off the box and pocketed it before pulling out the cloth. He unfolded it and looked over it for a moment then slipped his arms through the sleeves and the coat onto his shoulders.

"Hey, hey, let us get a look at it!" Rina asked excitedly.

Emu turned in place to show off his coat. His new coat was a white trench coat like Forrest's but with the collar sticking up and with no sleeves. Above his heart was a red lightning bolt.

"It fits almost perfectly." He said.

"It looks almost like Forrest's." Rina pointed out.

"…mine's better looking." Forrest said after a second.

"Yours is just missing sleeves, Forrest." Mrs. Venus remarked. "Alright, that's enough for now. Have fun by yourselves. Have too much fun for all I care. Just make sure that you move into your room, Emu" She walked out.

Rina and Emu looked over Emu's coat while Forrest gave a glance and then started to leave. Emu watched him go for a second before he thought of something.

"Hey guys, what happened in that field after Forrest started to walk off? I think I blanked out for a bit because the next thing that I remember was Rina slapping me."

Rina looked up at Emu and Forrest paused. He turned around. "What?"

"I blanked out. What happened?" Emu said.

"You got extremely mad after Forrest suggested you were lying and violently attacked him." Rina explained. "Do you really not remember that?"

Emu shook his head. Rina backed up a step and looked at him while tilting her head in confusion.

"Emu, I know it's none of my business, but what exactly happened to get you to react so violently to being accused of lying? What have you lost?"

Emu looked at her but his eyes briefly unfocused as he thought of something.

 _"_ _Please, stay with me! I can't lose you! Please!"_

 _"_ _It's all my fault…I'm sorry."_

He sighed as his eyes refocused on Rina.

"…my entire world was centered on me with one person. That person is…dead now. He's dead. And it's all my fault."

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, and Horn sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, and Horn crouching down.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The five RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, and MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, and Horn all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The five ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** It cut to a shot of all five running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** The five were shown alongside their RiftRanger forms.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by their regular forms running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Minotaur Legend and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend was on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, and Horn continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The five jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, and Horn kicking outwards.

* * *

Forrest sat alone in the break room, thinking heavily about something.

Mrs. Venus walked in but paused upon seeing Forrest, surprised to see him.

"Forrest? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in bed like everyone else?"

"I was thinking about something that didn't make sense to me." He responded.

"Oh?" she sat down across from him. "What seems to be the problem?"

Forrest opened his mouth without hesitation, turning to Mrs. Venus as he spoke. "Where did Dark Knight get the technology to grow like that?"

Mrs. Venus raised her eyebrows in surprise but her expression quickly morphed into an uncharacteristically curious look.

"You see the issue too?" Forrest said.

"Yeah. If there's been three sightings of "Knight" type warriors opening Rifts and causing havoc, and all of them look alike and use the same technology, then does that mean we're dealing with a gang of some kind?" Mrs. Venus theorized.

* * *

In the throne room, Princess stared at the screen before her and her family.

The screen held the silhouetted image of Master.

"It's been brought to my attention that one of your Knight Force fought a group of Rift Guardians at a festival attended by my daughter. Why is this, Master?" Queen asked.

"You must forgive me, my queen. Dark Knight was ordered to kill the Rift Guardians, but I was not expecting there to be collateral." Master's voice answered.

"You wanted to kill the Rift Guardians?" Princess said in a quiet tone.

"Forget that. Your "Dark Knight" is an assassin. He's supposed to kill. The fact that there was collateral damage here and there isn't surprising." Prince said.

"My son is right, Master. You cannot hide behind the "I didn't know" excuse when your Dark Knight has a rather…dark reputation."

"Master, what are you planning?" Princess asked.

"Since you asked, we're going to get them to bring out the best they can. If they bring out their best we can accurately judge what we're up against which makes it easier to take them out."

"Take them out?" Princess repeated.

"Why are you so concerned with the deaths of the Rift Guardians, Princess? It's not like they matter in the grand scheme of things." Prince said.

"It may have to do with Princess's girlfriend being one of them" Maid spoke up.

"Oh? Is she?" Queen teased her daughter.

"Mother, not now!" Princess blushed.

Master sighed. "Very well. If that is what you desire, I will handle the Rift Guardians, but not kill them."

Suddenly, the silhouette changed to reveal what he really looked like.

He had a humanoid figure covered in dark green skin in a general-like outfit. The outfit was black and covered in medals of all kind down the left side of his chest. His pants were dark gray and had silver lines running down the side. The top part of his outfit was tucked into his pants, his pants being held up by a white belt that had a sheath with a sword on his right and a holstered gun on his left. He had on a pair of black and gray boots. His face was similar to Princess's, with a pair of glowing yellow eyes and light green lips. If he had ears, it was underneath what looked to be a cross between a hat and helmet that was colored black and white.

"For the sake of our mission, I won't kill them, but I'll get them out of our way."

* * *

 **End of Season 1**


	6. Rift 6

Rift 6: The Heroic World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts and Flashback: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Rina and Emu were currently in the main room of their base, Emu sitting on a chair facing away from the table while Rina stood across from him at the screen. The screen was currently blank.

"Alright Emu, since you're a part of the team, we're going to have to make sure that you know more about us and that we know more about you." Rina explained. "And just to kind of recap all that you know about us to make sure you're up to date."

"Okay. Is that it?" Emu asked.

"Yup." Rina nodded. "So, starting off, we have the members of the team." She motioned to the screen, which changed to a four way split screen of each member, Rina and Forrest on the top row and Fea and Horn on the bottom.

"First off, we have me: Rina Ailan." The screen centered on Rina while also displaying an image of KrakenRanger. "I am KrakenRanger, the blue team member of this squad. I'm a Seaian scientist from the planet Mizuri." The screen changed to Forrest and WerewolfRanger. "Next up is Forrest. I don't really know much about him, but I know that he was a police officer on his home world, which was previously destroyed. He is WerewolfRanger." The screen then changed to Fea and PegasusRanger. "Then we have Fea Strayx. She's PegasusRanger, and she's also the Princess of the North Wingal Kingdom, which is on Skaia." The screen then changed to Horn and MinotaurRanger. "And lastly, we have Horn Beauts, the youngest and strongest on our team. He is MinotaurRanger and he was previously a construction worker on his home world of Kakura. Any questions."

"Yeah. Just one, so do you guys just do your jobs concurrently while you work as Rift Guardians?" Emu asked. "Because I noticed you used "was" when referring to Horn's job."

"Fea and I are the only ones who still have our old jobs. Well, technically I'm the only one with an actual "job" other than this. I don't think being a Princess counts as a job. Horn had to resign after most of the people at where he worked left to go to the Revolution."

Emu nodded before his eyes widened as he realized what she said. "Wait, Revolution?"

"Anyways. That just leaves Mrs. Venus and Mars." Rina ignored Emu. The screen changed to a split screen of Mrs. Venus and Mars. "Mrs. Venus is also a RiftRanger herself, though she almost never suits up unless she needs to. She serves as our boss. She's a Faux-Nna from Haiens. Mars on the other hand is not a RiftRanger. Instead, he's more of a secretary to Mrs. Venus, though he does help us out in a way that makes him similar to a butler, I guess. He's a Sighetous from La-Iabges, and his can view into other living beings minds by looking into their eyes."

"Is it just me or are the names of the planets and species getting weirder as we go on?" Emu interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first off we have you. "Rina" kind of reminds me of "Marina", which has a basis in water. That makes sense. Plus "Ailan" kind of sounds like "alien" but just switched around. Then "Mizuri" means water in Japanese and "Seaia" sounds like a combination of "Sea" and "Gaia", you get what I'm saying?"

"…I do." Rina nodded, giving a thoughtful look. "But can we continue this conversation later? We are kind of in the middle of something." She pointed out.

"Oh, right, sorry. Continue." Emu sheepishly grinned.

Rina turned towards the screen as it changed to show off the Rift Legends and Rift Master.

"These are our Rift Legends. They're giant machines we pilot to take on foes that are of a far greater size than us. However, we've recently discovered that we can actually combine them into the giant and powerful Rift Master, which requires all five of us to work in sync." Rina gestured to the screen.

The screen switched again, this time to the personal weapons of the teams and the personal handgun/dagger they each had.

"These weapons are personified for each of us, and allow us to control our respective elements. There's the Shock Lance, Wave Gun, Zero Sabers, Wing Bow, and Rock Drill. Lastly is the weapon we all have. A small gun that changes into a knife for us to use if need be. This weapon is called the Rift Striker." Rina went on with her explanation.

"Wait, that weapon has a name? I just thought it was 'gun' or 'dagger', I didn't think it was special enough." Emu interrupted.

"You don't name weapons on your world?"

"Well I usually don't. I can't speak for every human, but I certainly don't. Hell, you came up with the name of my weapon."

"I also made it for you." Rina grinned. "But…that's about it, really. Aside from your first few cases of those Knight guys, of course. Anything?"

Emu put his hand to his chin in thought. He eventually spoke up. "Okay, yeah, what's everyone's ages?"

"Everyone's ages? In human years or in our own respective measurements of time?" Rina asked.

"Hmm…start out with human years but then transition into the other measurements." Emu clarified.

"In human years, our ages are: 15 for Horn, 19 for myself, 25 for Fea, and 31 for Forrest. Mrs. Venus would be around 1,347 and Mars is 22,542." Rina explained.

Emu raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Are they really that old?"

"Their species lives a lot longer than humans. In their species measurements, Mars is 22 and Mrs. Venus is 35."

"Oooh. Okay, that makes sense." Emu nodded. "And respective times?"

"In our own respective times, we're 30 for Horn, 21 for myself, 18 for Fea, and 29 for Forrest."

"Horn is 30 in his time but 15 in my time?"

Rina nodded.

"So technically Horn is an adult by his species standards and his body has matured into that of an adult, it's just that his body takes under 15 human years to mature into adulthood? And Fea is similar to that as her body has matured into an 18-year-old by her species standards, which is about 25 human years?" Emu asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Rina instantly replied. "Now how about you?"

"Okay, well…my name is Shinji Mirai, but I prefer to go by Emu. I am currently 23 in human years." Emu responded.

"So around my age then?"

"I guess, yeah."

"Anything else you'd like to share?"

Emu sighed. "I used to be a famous singer back on Earth. I'm not anymore. I had some traumatic stuff happen to me. That's all I really want to say about myself."

"Fair point. I'm not gonna make you talk about stuff you don't want to for too long." Rina admitted.

"Thank you."

"Now, what were you saying about weird species names and stuff?" Rina sat down next to Emu.

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all five as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Lastly, Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The five RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five were shown together with a close up shown of them one after the other.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Master watched as dozens of Peasants worked together on a large machine that towered over him. Sparks flew through the air as loud clanging and banging filled the air.

Behind Master, Ruby walked up with a tablet of sorts.

"Master, I have the report collected by Aqua Knight on the Rift Guardians." She explained.

"…go on." Master urged her to continue.

"Well, in his observations, he reported that there is a sort of tension between them. The newest recruit, a human, seems to be having trouble adjusting entirely to his new position."

"I see. And are there any good developments they have had to balance out the bad?" Master asked.

"It appears that they've also been working on control of their newly acquired giant combination machine. And Princess's crush inside the Rift Guardians seems to be growing, making it harder for us to target them." Ruby said.

"How so?"

"It is to my understanding that they're a team now. And a team works so that if one falls, the others w-"

"Don't be naïve, Ruby." Master interrupted. "I admire your sense of honor and belief that because they're a team that they must stick together and that if all but one falls then the one remaining will avenge them, but that's not how it works here. They are a team, yes, but they are not close enough to risk their lives for one another."

Ruby Knight managed to prevent herself from speaking anymore.

"Now, is the next phase of the plan ready?" Master asked.

"Almost, Master. Aqua Knight is hunting down the final pieces of the End Charges as we speak."

"Good. Tell him to proceed with construction and planting them when he gets what he needs."

"Yes, Master."

* * *

Emu looked around the main room as he walked in. It was empty aside from Horn and Fea sitting at the table while watching a video on the screen. The video in question was a match between two alien beings, one being what looked like a cross between a rhinoceros and a tiger while the other was a cross between an octopus and a gorilla.

"Get 'em! Get 'em!" Horn cheered.

"Come on! You can't lose to him of all people!" Fea cried out to the loser, which was the rhino-tiger cross.

"What is happening here?" Emu walked up next to Horn and looked at the screen in confusion.

"The Cros-X System Fighting Championship." Horn explained, not pulling his eyes away from the screen.

"Oh. No idea what that is." Emu nodded.

However, the two watching simply ignored that and kept watching.

"So…he's a combination of a rhino-tiger…against an octo…gorilla?" Emu raised an eyebrow.

"That's a girl." Horn pointed at the rhino-tiger.

"What's a rhino?" Fea asked.

"…okay where's Rina? She wouldn't let me be confused." Emu sighed.

"Off with Forrest. Mrs. Venus sent her and him to go check something out related to those Knight-OOOH!" Horn screamed in excitement as the one he was rooting for took out his opponent in a knockout.

"DAMMIT!" Fea screamed in frustration.

"Pay up, Fea!"

"Hey that was just round two! There's still three more to go!"

"Please! If he can't win the first two, he won't win the next three"

"You don't know that! Double or nothing says he pulls it off!"

"You really want to risk that?"

Emu just blankly looked between the two of them, unsure of what he should do next. So he just shrugged and turned around to leave, only to bump right into Mrs. Venus as she walked into the room.

"Oh, sorry." Emu quickly apologized.

"Emu, it's good that I found you so quickly. I need you to fight me." Mrs. Venus calmly said.

The argument Fea and Horn were having immediately stopped. Horn muted the screen and the two turned to looked back at the conversation.

"…I'm sorry, what?" Emu said.

"Now that you're an official member and you've settled in, I need to evaluate the skills and abilities you've gotten so far."

"…okay, that does make sense." Emu hesitantly nodded. "I…guess I can fight. I don't really have anything else to do."

"Good. Meet me in the gym in about five Earth minutes." Mrs. Venus walked out of the room.

Horn and Fea immediately sprang up and rushed out of the room, headed towards the gym.

"…well, shit." Emu groaned to himself.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Venus sighed as she walked through the hallways. "To think I have to resort to this to follow up with what he said." She muttered to herself.

* * *

 _Flashback:_

 _Mrs. Venus blankly stared at Forrest while he looked at her with a serious expression. She was sitting at the break room table with a drink in front of her while Forrest stood next to her._

 _"I'm sorry, you want me to do what now?" Mrs. Venus said in a warning tone._

 _"I want you to check out Emu and the Rift Energy he gives off." Forrest reiterated._

 _"And why do you want me to do that? This isn't just an attempt to resolve your grudge, is it? Because my offer of suspension still stands if you want it."_

 _Forrest sighed as he began to speak. "When we fought in that field-"_

 _"Still punishing you for that but thanks for the reminder." Mrs. Venus interrupted._

 _"Anyways." Forrest said. "When we fought in the field, there was a gust of wind that came up before Emu just…changed. He was furious and while he was hesitant in fighting before, he attacked me with about three times the strength than what he had previously used. I've never seen anything like it."_

 _"So…you think because there was a weird gust of wind and Emu had a mood swing that I should investigate him?" Mrs. Venus attempted to clarify._

 _"No. It sounds like that, I know, but when he attacked me there was this red…aura around his hand. And as soon as Rina slapped him he snapped out of it. He clarified later that he blanked out and only came back to consciousness after that slap, which makes me wonder what exactly happened to him, if he was telling the truth." Forrest explained._

 _Mrs. Venus took a moment to think. She eventually sighed and began rubbing her temples. "Okay. I'll check him out and see what happens."_

* * *

"I've tried everything else. I suppose fighting him might as well be the last straw to see if he was right." Mrs. Venus said. "Well…might as well have some fun with it."

* * *

Rina looked over her Rift Closer as she stood in the middle of a bank vault. Forrest stood next to her, cautiously eyeing the vault door as she typed something onto a screen.

"I can somewhat trace where the Rift led. It's been a while so any remnants of the Rift are practically gone by now. However, because of this, I can't calculate or estimate where the other end is at any known point in the universe." Rina explained.

"What happens if we try to reopen it and jump through it?" Forrest asked.

"We don't tend to reopen Rifts, so I can't guarantee the safety of it." Rina said. "I suggest we keep looking through where the Rifts have been opened to see if we can find a definite place I can lock on to and take us to."

"Good. Let's keep looking then. What's next on the list?" Forrest opened up a Rift that they jumped into a few moments before the guards checked on the vault in response to the noise that they've made.

* * *

In the gym of the base, Mrs. Venus calmly stretched in place before bouncing on the tips of her feet.

Emu stood across from her, looking rather unsure as he watched her get ready.

Behind him, Horn and Fea were both making bets over what was going to happen.

"Half a minute, max." Horn said.

"Nah, ten seconds." Fea crossed her arms.

"You haven't actually fought our boss. You don't know. Emu can probably hold her off for about 30 seconds."

"When did you fight her?"

"It was a spar. It did not go well." Horn shook his head.

"Oh, yeah. That's reassuring." Emu turned around and sarcastically said to them.

Mrs. Venus pulled off her robe and set it on the ground nearby before she turned back to Emu.

"So, we ready to do this?" she said while reaching into her pocket and pulling out a strip of cloth.

Emu shrugged off his coat and handed it to Horn, despite the protests Horn gave. Emu rolled up his sleeves as Mrs. Venus unraveled the strip of cloth and started to blindfold herself.

"Wait, why are you-" Emu's questioning statement was paused as he noticed two patches of hair on top of Mrs. Venus's head suddenly start to move. The two patches folded upwards to reveal a black pair of triangle-shaped fox ears with white patches on the inside jutting out of the top of her pitch-black head of hair.

Emu looked at this new revelation with wide eyes filled with shock. "She…ears…what."

"All of us have different powers that are exclusive to our species." Horn explained.

Emu started to walk around Mrs. Venus, his eyes focused on her ears.

"Forrest has extraordinary senses and is extremely nimble and quick, Horn is super strong and can manipulate his size and strength depending on his current emotion, Rina is both empathic and can withstand extremely cold temperatures, among other things, and I have wings." Fea explained. "Mrs. Venus here has an extra set of ears that are super sensitive and let her hear things a lot better than most living things can."

"Which means I can hear you moving around me. So I can do this." Mrs. Venus calmly pivoted on her foot and lashed out with a kick to Emu's head.

"UWAGH!" Emu cried out in surprise as he ducked backwards out of the way.

He then proceeded to roll out of the way when she kicked at where he once was.

Emu attempted to quietly stand up, though Mrs. Venus was quick to jump at him and lash out with a punch, striking him in the chest. He stumbled backwards when she jumped forward and spun around in midair to drive her foot across his shoulder and send him tumbling to the ground.

"Ow…" he groaned.

"Is that all? You didn't even fight back even though I put on the handicap." Mrs. Venus remarked, pulling her blindfold up over one eye. She looked down at him briefly but helped him stand back up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good." She calmly pulled the blindfold back down over her eye then slammed her palm into his chest. Emu coughed as he was sent backwards but looked up in time to see Mrs. Venus's fist flying towards his face, to which he tried to block but resulted in the fist grazing his cheek.

Emu stumbled a bit but decided to spring forward with his arms outstretched.

Mrs. Venus smirked at him taking action, ducking back while rearing a fist backwards. However, her smirk dropped from her face and she let out a cry of pain as Emu clapped his hands together over her head and right next to her fox ears. She fell onto the ground and held onto her ears, slightly moaning in pain.

Emu sympathetically winced and crouched down next to her. "Sorry, are you ok-OOF!" he didn't get to finish when she roughly kicked him in the face.

"Emu's really getting his ass kicked." Horn commented as Emu resumed attempting to dodge while Mrs. Venus still managed to hit him despite that.

"Why is he hesitating? He's going to get nowhere if he holds back like he is now." Fea said.

Mrs. Venus swept Emu's legs out from under him, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"They're right you know. If you don't fight back I'm not going to get an accurate reading of what you can do. Don't be afraid to hit me as hard as you can. I encourage it." She scratched at the back of her head. "Just don't apologize after hurting me. That was a dirty move, but it worked so I'll give you props for it. You left yourself open for an attack after you apologized so don't be upset if you hurt me."

"I don't really like hurting people though. I'm sorry but if you want me to hurt someone I'm close to I…I won't do it voluntarily." Emu admitted.

Mrs. Venus kept her head pointed forward.

 _So far I've seen no evidence supporting anything Forrest said about him. I also don't enjoy having to upset him to get results. This obviously wasn't the best idea but I haven't really had much of a choice…I'm gonna hate myself for this decision._

Mrs. Venus turned around and pulled her blindfold off, blinking in an attempt to adjust her eyesight back to normal. "Horn, Fea. You guys wanna join in?"

The two blankly stared back at her.

"You three against me. You can use whatever method you want if you think it can help you win, but be warned that I'm not going to go down so easily."

"…I'm in." Horn said.

"Three on one? This'll be a piece of cake!" Fea grinned as the two walked over to Emu.

"Wait a minute! Are you guys serious? Wasn't this supposed to be an evaluation of my skills?" Emu pointed out.

"I want to see if you work better with a team than by yourself. I can learn what you can do if I just focus on how you fight instead of the other two." Mrs. Venus flexed the wrist which held her Rift Closer. She raised her wrist up then reached her other hand up to the Rift Closer. Her fingers pushed up on the lever, the body of the Rift Closer opening along the line to reveal an orange center.

"Open The Rift."

 **Rift Opened!**

An orange Rift formed along the line.

"Connect The Worlds."

Energy traveled along the Rift and across Mrs. Venus's body starting from her wrist. The energy soon covered her body minus her head. It solidified into a suit before a silhouette of a fox's head formed over her own. It shifted around and then solidified into a helmet.

 **Kitsune! World Connected!**

Horn and Fea were a bit surprised to see she transformed, but weren't too affected as they got ready to fight.

Emu, on the other hand, was staring in shock with his jaw hanging open.

The suit Mrs. Venus was now wearing was a bright orange coloration. There were silver lines running up the front and back of her legs only being stopped by a band around her ankles. The lines went up to her shoulders, where she wore gold rectangular-shaped shoulder pads. Gold lines ran across her stomach before diverting upwards to the shoulder pads to form a square. Her chest on the inside of the square held a patch of white coloration.

Her helmet did not have the design that the others usually did on it, instead looking like the face of a fox. She had a gold circular visor around her eyes. Above the visor was a pair of black eyes. However, between the eyes and both above and below the visor like an open mouth was a small bump resembling a snout. An orange pair of fox ears alike the ones she had on top of her head pointed upwards.

The sides of her suit outside the lines held designs similar to fur while her hands were covered by black clawed gloves and her feet had a pair of black boots with claws at the end of the front. A tail hung from a little bit below the small of her back.

"The United Worlds. MasterRanger." She calmly cracked her neck then punched her right fist into her left palm, cracking the knuckles. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

Forrest fell through the other end of a Rift, landing in the middle of an alleyway. Rina followed soon after, closing it behind her.

"You know, when I give the confirmation that I know where the Rift leads and that it's potentially safe, you could at least let me make sure it's safe." Rina said to Forrest while closing the Rift.

"We're in a hurry. Worry about safety later." Forrest started to leave the alley.

Rina sighed and followed after him.

They exited the alley and entered the city, finding it to be highly technological and alien with the civilians walking around being humanoid but with differently colored skin and having no noses but one eye. There were other species of aliens as well, but they appeared to be rare.

"Come on, let's start asking around." Forrest urged.

* * *

Horn fell hard onto the ground while Fea slammed onto her front next to him.

MasterRanger stood over them but backed up to give them space to stand when they got back up. She turned to look at Emu, who looked the slightest bit unsure, but was standing in a ready stance.

"I'm protected now. Try and hit me." MasterRanger remarked with her arms outstretched.

Emu simply sighed and ran in to fight.

His first move was a punch to her chest which missed when she very easily stepped to the side. However, he kept moving and used the momentum to spin around then roundhouse kick her across her helmet.

MasterRanger was surprised by the attack but she managed to catch cartwheel herself back to normal. She lightly rubbed her face with her right glove before getting ready again.

Emu sprang forward in an attempt to knee her in the stomach, and though she quickly blocked it he clapped his hands together over her head loudly. She hissed in pain and instinctually reached for her ears as Emu grabbed her wrists then drove his foot into her stomach before slamming his right knuckle across her helmet.

MasterRanger took the attack on the helmet and spun around, copying Emu's move and then slamming the heel of her foot into his shoulder. In this reversed scenario, however, Emu took the attack but wasn't able to maneuver himself back onto his feet as he instead hit the ground hard.

"That was…better." MasterRanger complimented him. "I expect you're going to try a lot more of that, aren't you?"

 **Pegasus! Minotaur! World Connected!**

 **Wing Bow! Rock Drill!**

Behind MasterRanger, Horn and Fea had changed into their RiftRanger forms and pulled out their respective weapons.

MasterRanger stepped to the side to avoid a downward swing from MinotaurRanger's drill before grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards her. The arrow fired from PegasusRanger's bow proceeded to hit him in the back. The orange RiftRanger then kicked MinotaurRanger in the stomach with enough force to send him flying into PegasusRanger.

Emu shakily got to his feet and opened his Rift Closer.

 **Garuda! World Connected!**

 **Shock Lance!**

"GarudaRanger." GarudaRanger calmly announced himself while brandishing his Shock Lance.

MasterRanger tilted her head to the side before she raised the arm containing her Rift Closer up. She pressed down on the button on the side.

 **Master Staff!**

Orange energy came out of the Rift Closer and hovered in front of her. When she grabbed hold of it, it solidified.

The energy took the shape of a staff. The bottom of the staff held a circle while the middle held a large grip. The top of the staff held an oval shape with blades jutting out of the sides while the bottom of the oval held a folded up handle.

GarudaRanger tightened his grip on his lance as MasterRanger planted the bottom of the Master Staff into the ground then leaned on it.

A second later, GarudaRanger charged.

He swung his Shock Lance around in an attempt to strike at her shoulders though she ducked down and maneuvered her weapon so the attack missed. She twirled the weapon around then slammed the blade into GarudaRanger's front. She proceeded to repeatedly strike at him with both ends of the weapon, ending with her slamming the top into his helmet.

GarudaRanger caught himself this time, using his wings to stop his fall to the ground then flying around the room while drawing his Rift Striker.

MasterRanger watched him for a second but spun around and hit MinotaurRanger in his stomach as he tried to attack her from behind. She ducked back from another arrow from PegasusRanger. She stepped and moved out of the way of the other arrows from PegasusRanger and shots from GarudaRanger while lashing out to hit and strike at MinotaurRanger.

Finally, she hit MinotaurRanger so that he fell to the ground then backed up and spun around to avoid getting hit by PegasusRanger's attacks while passing her Master Staff to her other hand then folding the handle on the top down so it was perpendicular to the weapon itself. MasterRanger grabbed hold of the handle with her right hand and held the grip between her arm and her body while pushing forward on the handle. The blades on the side of the weapon folded outwards to resemble a crossbow. She stopped spinning with the weapon perfectly aimed at PegasusRanger, who had just loosed another arrow.

MasterRanger pulled the trigger, a bolt of energy shooting out and striking PegasusRanger in the chest. The area of impact exploded and sent PegasusRanger tumbling across the ground.

GarudaRanger landed on the ground behind her and stabbed forward while converting his Rift Striker to knife mode. MasterRanger deflected the attack then stabbed forward with her own weapon, though GarudaRanger quickly blocked that with his knife while pulling the trigger. Electricity surged through the knife and into the Master Staff, resulting in MasterRanger letting out a brief shocked grunt as she was electrocuted but let go and backed up. GarudaRanger dropped his Shock Lance and caught the Master Staff before it hit the ground, aiming it at MasterRanger and then pulling the trigger.

However, the ensuing recoil from the shot sent him flying backwards. The bolt missed MasterRanger altogether.

She calmly walked over to GarudaRanger. "Looks like a crossbow, fires a bullet like a gun, but has an output like a rocket launcher. So yeah. Recoil." She took her weapon back from him and turned around only to get shot with an arrow across the chest.

"I did it!" PegasusRanger cheered. MinotaurRanger stood next to her.

"Let's finish this already" MinotaurRanger suggested, to which PegasusRanger nodded.

The two took their Rift Closers off their belts and plugged them into their weapons.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

MasterRanger stared at them for a second before shrugging and taking her Rift Closer off her brace and plugging it into her Master Staff.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

 **Pegasus Flap! Minotaur Smack! Buster!**

The two fired their attacks at the orange RiftRanger.

Calmly, when the attacks were close enough, MasterRanger struck them out of the air with her weapon so they hit the ground behind her and exploded. She proceeded to aim at them next.

"Try again later." She advised before pulling the trigger.

 **Kitsune End! Buster!**

"WAIT!" GarudaRanger quickly jumped in, wrapping one arm around MasterRanger in an attempt to move her while the other pushed at the Master Staff. This resulted in the weapon aiming itself at the ground right in front of the two as the attack was fired. The ensuing explosion engulfed the two of them.

* * *

Elsewhere, Rina was in a bar with a strange humanoid figure. She laughed at his joke but pretended she had to go take a phone call and left. In the outside of the bar, Forrest waited for her, leaning against the wall and standing normally when she approached.

"Well?" he asked.

"You were right. The drunk bimbo act worked." She said, a frown replacing the fake smile she wore. "But this guy was like the last few. Didn't have a lot of information that we needed."

"Is there anything else you can do to get information out of him? Anything at all?" Forrest gestured to the bar.

"Nope. We've milked this guy for every last piece of knowledge about the Knights that he had." Rina sighed. She pulled out her Rift Closer and pulled up a screen. "So what we've got is that Silver Knight has been spotted here several times, either in or out of his armor, and in the times he's been here, he's gotten drunk at one of these bars. Makes sense, this place is known for its bars and such."

"Focus." Forrest advised.

"Right, sorry. Well, other than that there's nothing. We've found he comes here a lot and that he most likely went from here to a bank by a Rift from a break in stealing stuff, but that's it. And a lot of it is speculation." Rina closed the screen and pocketed her Rift Closer. "So what now?"

Forrest shrugged. "No idea…well…actually…why would he be stealing stuff from Earth banks in the first place? You've looked into Earth 385 as a result of Emu joining the team, right? What's so special about banks there?"

Rina took a moment to think before she responded. "Well, this Earth I've noted has an extraordinary amount of Rift Energy, which makes sense given how it's the only Earth we've found that gives us a human with enough Rift Energy to become a RiftRanger. However, when I was looking through the reports, I noted that a certain type of gold and some rare type of diamond was stolen from almost every bank. These items have an exceptionally high amount of concentration on this specific Earth."

"What were the gold and diamonds types?"

"I…don't know. I either forgot the official names or the reports I had never gave specific types."

"Okay. Fine. What can they do with gold and diamonds aside get rich?"

"Actually, despite what you might think, gold and diamonds are expensive items among humans and several other species, including yours and mine, but not others. So they could just be plain rocks to these guys, and we need to consider that if we're not too certain on what species we're looking at. And if that's the case we need to be looking at what other purposes they could be using these things for." Rina explained.

"That's a lot of work to be doing." Forrest nodded. "Where do we start."

"We can split it. I'll head back to the base and begin looking into what kind of purposes they'd need for that much gold and diamonds. You, on the other hand, can start checking to see if any major trading in those markets have taken place."

"But that's still going to be hard to find considering they'd need to be smart and divide it up into multiple shops and trading areas to not arouse suspicion if they did. How do you suggest I find them then?"

Rina was silent as she thought. "…sniff them out." She suggested jokingly. She faltered, however, under Forrest's glare and growl. "Okay, bad joke. I'll just be on my way then."

* * *

Emu woke up in an infirmary bed to find Mrs. Venus bandaging his forehead from a chair next to him. He also felt a lot of pain all over his body, especially the area she was treating. She quickly closed his mouth as he opened it to complain.

"Don't start. I know it hurts. It's not exactly easy to take the full force of a Master Staff finisher. Especially if you can't even handle the recoil of firing it to begin with." She remarked.

Emu just gave a light grunt to confirm he understood.

"You put up a good fight, though. I'll give you that. When you started to let go of your hesitation and actually start swinging, you did well." Mrs. Venus complimented him. "However, while you do know how to fight, you'll have to work on your stances and techniques if you want to be able to do more damage."

"I…I kind of figured that." Emu responded.

Mrs. Venus lightly grinned. "Still, you did well given your aversion to fighting people because of your accident…wait." She paused as Emu stiffened and looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Oh. I'm an idiot. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up, it slipped out."

Emu shook his head. "It's fine. Don't worry about it too much. Just…don't call it an accident."

Mrs. Venus finished treating him, as evidenced by her packing up the medical supplies she used. She set the container aside on a nearby desk. The container was next to a small plate holding a small cube about the size of a slice of cake and a small silver fork. She passed him the plate.

"Here. Eat this. It'll help you feel better." Mrs. Venus explained.

"What is this?" Emu asked as he looked over the cube.

"Queke."

"Cake? You guys have cake?"

"Yes. Well, most likely not at all what you're referring to, but if the two sound similar I can understand your confusion." Mrs. Venus shrugged. "We can figure it out later. This is going to help you get better, but it works slowly and don't ask for more because it'll just result in a severe addiction."

"…should you be trusting me with this?"

"It'll be fine."

Emu didn't look confident in what she was telling him, but he took the fork and started to eat the food.

Mrs. Venus watched his face go from confused, to concerned, to contemplating, and then giving a nod of satisfaction. She let out a light giggle in response to this.

"So you like it?"

"It's not exactly…good, per se, but it's definitely not bad."

"I'm gonna pretend I know what 'persay' means." Mrs. Venus nodded. "And I'm also gonna be offended that you didn't like my cooking as much."

"Oh. You made this?" Emu somewhat paled.

"It is my fault you got hurt. I suppose I should be the one to help you feel better."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's your opinion and I'll keep that in mind if I ever have to cook for you again."

The two were silent for a bit after that, the only thing keeping it from absolute silence being the scratches of the fork against the plate as Emu kept eating.

Mrs. Venus stared at him throughout this silence, Emu looking understandably uncomfortable as she did.

 _Forrest was wrong. I can't find anything close to what he told me. Nothing at all. Emu is just…a normal human with Rift Energy._

"Hey, Mrs. Venus. Can I ask you something?" Emu broke the silence.

"Sure. What's the problem?"

"How do you cope with all of this?"

"All of what?"

"This…this is so much more than anything I could have ever thought of. I thought I was just going to be on Earth, saving lives like some kind of superhero cop. I never thought I'd actually get to go into space or other worlds to fight. I certainly hoped I would and imagined what it would be like but it was so much more than I imagined." Emu explained.

Mrs. Venus nodded in understanding. "I see. You have trouble adjusting to how it was all mundane before and now it's so grand all of a sudden."

"I wouldn't exactly say mundane, but good enough."

"I don't really know if I'm the best person to be really giving you this kind of advice. To be honest, Forrest or Mars would be better to help given how they joined similar to how you did, without having known what the Rift Guardians are for significant portion of their lives." Gently, Mrs. Venus placed her hand on top of Emu's. "However, I can try my best to help. You didn't want to let anyone know you're struggling with all of this, did you?" Emu shook his head, confirming her suspicions. "Don't be afraid to ask for help. Most of us are understanding of your situation given how out of the loop most Earth's tend to be when it comes to life outside other planets. Though the fact that you are asking for help isn't surprising. Initially it was concerning how much you just accepted all of this without question but it does kind of make sense that you'd be unsure of how to ask and have just been bottling it all up."

"…I…I don't see how that's supposed to help me."

"I'm trying. I guess…what exactly do you want to do if you're a Rift Guardian?"

Emu wasn't sure of how to answer that.

"If you can't find a purpose to fight or a purpose to go help a universe much larger than anything you've anticipated, just take it slow and don't go all out on the space travel just yet. Find a purpose that you want to follow and a reason to stay on this team before you worry about going out and finding out more about what you're trying to fight for. I know you don't want to leave but try to find just why you want to stay and why you want to keep fighting to protect. Find what you want to protect in this universe then go out and find it." Mrs. Venus advised.

Emu was silent as he took that advice in. A small grin formed on his face. "Thanks, Mrs. Venus."

Mrs. Venus patted Emu on the head as if he was a kid. "No problem. Now, get some rest for a couple of hours while the Queke and medicine kick in. Then report back to me, okay? I'll see you when you're better."

Emu nodded as Mrs. Venus stood up and stretched before leaving the room. He laid back against the pillow in his bed and relaxed.

 _…why do I want to keep fighting?_

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The five RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, and MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Minotaur Legend and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend was on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.


	7. Rift 7

Rift 7: The Strange World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Forrest patiently waited on the outside of a building with crossed arms and his usual scowl.

Within a few moments, Rina appeared out of a Rift, looking around for a few seconds before spotting Forrest and heading over to him.

"Well? What did you find?" Rina asked.

Forrest shook his head. "Nothing of significance. No one deposited that much of anything. I tried to find if anyone tried to divide the load between multiple banks, but I couldn't find anything. You?"

"Yes, actually. There are numerous types of devices and such that could be developed using that much gold and jewelry, but only one that requires that much. So they're either making one of those machines or multiple of others."

"What are they?" Forrest asked.

"Well, it's just standard weapons or makeshift Rift devices. But the big one is the one that concerns me. It's a little hard to explain in public, but what I can say is that if it's being built, we need to be ready for something big."

Forrest nodded. "Okay, let's report back to Mrs. Venus."

* * *

Mrs. Venus stared at the screen while biting down on her thumbnail. The screen held an image of Earth, though there were several points of glowing lights all across the world, with the number of points slowly growing.

Mars stood next to her, staring at the screen as well with a questioning look.

"What do you want me to do, Mrs. Venus?" he asked.

"What else? Get Fea, Emu, and Horn. There's something going on we need to check out."

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master and joined MasterRanger on the ground.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

"What is that?" Emu asked.

After Mars had retrieved the three available members of the team, they were brought into the room to observe the screen and see what Mrs. Venus saw.

"That is your home planet. Way to recognize it, Emu." Mrs. Venus remarked. "But in all seriousness, I called you all in here to check out those glowing points."

"What are they?" Emu asked again.

"I don't know." Mrs. Venus explained. "The sensors are detecting some kind of Rift Energy but from what I can gather there are no Rifts opened. Just whatever these are."

Fea nodded. "Okay, I understand."

"So, do we all go down at once or should we split up?" Horn questioned.

"Hmmm. Horn, Fea. I want you two to track down whatever is causing these things the best you can. Emu, you know your way around Earth 385 the best, you go find out what they are to begin with. I'll stay up here and try to provide support wherever I can. Mars will go get me something to drink." Mrs. Venus listed off everyone available.

"Already on it." Mars started heading out the door as soon as she said his name.

"What about Rina and Forrest?" Horn pulled out his Rift Closer and looked at the screen, trying to find a pattern.

"They're on a mission of their own right now. I won't call them unless I absolutely need them for this." Mrs. Venus explained. "That's not important right now though. Get to work you three."

* * *

Emu walked down the sidewalk of a somewhat populated area. He looked around briefly with his Rift Closer in his hand before his eyes settles on a small crowd surrounding something in the distance.

He jogged towards the crowd.

As soon as he reached it, he noticed the something the crowd was surrounding was a small glowing orb floating ten feet in the air.

"Uh…" he raised his Rift Closer to his mouth. "Mrs. Venus. I found the thing. It's…um…I don't know what it is."

"What?" Mrs. Venus's voice came from the Rift Closer.

"I don't know what it is. It's this floating orb in the middle of the street."

"…hang on." She responded.

Emu looked at his Rift Closer in confusion before bringing it back to his mouth. He didn't hear the sound of a Rift opening behind him.

"Mrs. Venus, I can give more details if you want-"

"No need. I can see it for myself." Mrs. Venus stepped up next to him, looking up at the orb and surprising him.

"Where did you come from?" Emu looked at her with wide eyes.

"Two loving mothers and a father I don't like talking about. Moving on." She passed him her cup and started pushing her way through the crowd, which had taken note of her sudden appearance and were either frightened enough to move out of the way or curious enough to aim whatever device that recorded video that they had towards her to post online later.

Emu took note that the crowd started doing this and hid his face as he followed after his boss.

Mrs. Venus stepped up to the orb. "You know. In hindsight, sending you alone to find out what this thing is was a mistake given you're a rookie without much knowledge outside your own planet. Oh well. I'll just help you with this then head back up to the base and leave the rest to you." She commented to Emu.

Emu gave a simple nod. "So what is it?"

"Hmm. Well from experience, I think it looks like an orb of pure energy." Mrs. Venus observed. She then proceeded to hold up her Rift Closer to it and press the button, a minimized screen forming so as not to attract the crowds attention.

"…scan says it is too. But…it's pure Rift Energy?" she said in confusion. "That's…odd."

"How so?" Emu asked.

"Does your planet normally have glowing lights like this?" Mrs. Venus looked at Emu.

"Well. Aurora borealis. But that's not normally like-" Emu paused when one member of the crowd tapped his shoulder. "Huh?"

The person who tapped him on the shoulder, a white teenage girl with a somewhat excited but somewhat curious look on her face, looked him up and down before speaking.

Mrs. Venus looked at this girl in confusion. "What is she saying?"

"Hang on. She's speaking German." Emu replied, trying to think.

"I don't know what that is." Mrs. Venus responded but was ignored as Emu started speaking back to the girl in the same language as her, although a bit slow, as if he was struggling to remember the right words.

Emu and the girl conversed for a few more seconds, Mrs. Venus looking between them in confusion. She practically jumped in surprise and reached to make sure her upper ears were okay when the girl squealed and said something else.

Emu winced but put on a grin ( _that's fake,_ Mrs. Venus noted) and nodded. The girl held up a phone while getting close to Emu, grinning while Emu kept his grin and held up a peace sign.

Mrs. Venus went back to scanning the orb. _Well. As long as he's providing a significant distraction, I should get to work._

Her eyes narrowed as she read the screen.

 _Pure Rift Energy…if that's what's appearing all over the world, then who's doing it? And for what purpose? This much Rift Energy can only serve as a beacon for something. And even if it's not it'd only serve to benefit the world in the long run, though the result of that benefit is hard to determine._

Mrs. Venus reached up to scratch at near her upper right ear while sighing. She pivoted around to look at Emu, who was stuck taking pictures and writing things down on pieces of paper by other members of the crowd.

 _…Maybe I should wait for Rina to get back._

* * *

Horn and Fea walked together down an alleyway.

"No, you're wrong. I could last at least 10 days on Mizuri." Horn insisted.

"Yeah. Right. The only one of us from a desert planet would last more than an hour on a planet of water without dying of some form of hyperhydration and hypothermia." Fea laughed.

"You know you don't put a lot of faith in me, Fea." Horn crossed his arms. "I may have my limitations but it's not that bad."

"Suuuure." Fea shook her head in amusement.

"Whatever. We can argue about me being right later." Horn sighed. "That's what we're after, I guess." He pointed at a glowing orb in the air similar to what Emu found.

"…what is it?" Fea titled her head in confusion.

"I don't know." Horn scanned the orb with his Rift Closer. "…it's still somewhat new, so look around for something that could have caused this."

Fea nodded and began walking away while looking around. She suddenly stopped and opened her mouth to call to Horn.

THUMP!

Horn looked away from the orb to find Fea was on the ground, unconscious. Whatever it was that attacked her was upon Horn quickly enough.

* * *

Mrs. Venus closed the screen on her Rift Closer and stepped back from the orb.

"Hm…Emu." She turned to her worker, only to find the number of people bothering him for pictures or writing had lessened significantly, though he was still talking to them, albeit a tad bit reluctantly.

Emu had heard her call his name and turned to look at her, giving his boss a pleading look.

Mrs. Venus took less than a second to decide before she walked towards him, grabbing him by his wrist and starting to drag him off.

"Come on, we have a job to do." She said.

Emu quickly called out to the crowd, who looked a little disappointed that he was leaving but otherwise didn't do much.

"…what was that about?" Mrs. Venus asked when they were far enough away.

"Just…some people recognized me from when I was an idol. They wanted pictures, autographs, videos, that sort of stuff." Emu nervously pulled at his collar.

"I have no idea what any of those are."

"Oh, right. Sorry, forgot. Let's just say those are just things you do to commemorate meeting with a famous person."

Mrs. Venus nodded. "That makes sense. You okay?"

Emu didn't answer, instead changing the subject. "So what are we doing about that thing?"

Though the blatant diversion was obvious, Mrs. Venus didn't press the subject any further. "I don't know. I don't think it's safe to do anything but observe them for now."

Mrs. Venus's Rift Closer beeped to signal she was receiving a call, to which she answered.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Venus. Rina and I need to report on what we've found." Forrest's voice explained.

Mrs. Venus sighed. "Look, things are a bit hectic right now so unless it ties into this I'm gonna have to have you report later and help us out first."

A Rift opened up (much to Emu's surprise) and the duo of Rina and Forrest stepped out to meet with the two members of their team.

"Why? What's going on?" Rina questioned.

"These strange orbs showed up all over Earth. We were checking them out. Hang on, I'll send you the data." Mrs. Venus pressed down on the button on her Rift Closer.

"Where were you guys?" Emu asked Rina and Forrest.

"On a mission." Forrest simply said to Emu.

Mrs. Venus gave a quick warning glance to Forrest, though he ignored that.

Rina looked over the information Mrs. Venus sent her with confusion. "Hm…this…looks familiar…but I can't place where I've seen it before."

"Where are Horn and Fea?" Forrest questioned Mrs. Venus.

"They should be tracking down the source of the orbs, but I haven't gotten word from them yet."

"I'll call them." Emu moved to do so with his Rift Closer.

"Good, thanks. Now, Rina, do you have anything?" Mrs. Venus asked.

Rina shook her head. "I can't think of anything. I'd have to review back at the base for anything like this if I was to figure out what's going on."

"Oh Selniad" Mrs. Venus swore while she rubbed at her temples.

Emu gave Mrs. Venus a look at her swear but otherwise said nothing else related to that.

"Uh…Fea? Horn? You guys there?"

Emu waited for a response but got none. "Fea? Horn?"

It took a second, but a voice that was not Horn or Fea came on.

"Apologies. But the two Rift Guardians you're looking for aren't here at the moment. But you're welcome to come get them if you desire."

The four froze upon hearing the unfamiliar voice.

"…fuck." Mrs. Venus swore.

* * *

Fea groaned as her eyes fluttered open.

"What…happened?" she looked around in confusion.

It took a second of realization before she took notice of the chains wrapped around her. She was currently in a warehouse with chains binding her to a pillar. Horn was nearby, his entire body wrapped in chains that locked him to another pillar.

"Horn? Horn?" she called out to her ally, trying to get his attention, though he was still unconscious.

"Don't bother. He will be unconscious for a bit of time." An unfamiliar voice rang out.

Fea turned to the source to see what it was, only to find a familiar figure sitting in a folding chair off in the shadows.

"Are you…a Knight?" Fea asked.

"Correct." The figure shifted slightly in a manner exposing more of himself to the light, confirming that his armor was a light blue coloration. "Though I'd save the questions for when your friends show up. I'll only answer each question once."

Fea took the hint and kept quiet, instead lightly struggling against the chains to see how tight they were.

 _My wings can extend with enough power to tear these chains apart easily, I just need a little clearance to-_

"You're a Wingal girl. Specifically one of the ones who can have a pair of wings fold out of her back. I'm not stupid enough to not be prepared for everything."

Fea grunted angrily as she stomped her foot on the ground. There was nothing she could do but wait at this point.

* * *

Mrs. Venus looked over the screen. "Alright, what've we got?"

Rina looked up from a screen formed from her Rift Closer.

"Well, I got a reading from somewhere on the other side of the world from where you two were. I think it's here but I'm not too sure it's safe to go in without being prepared."

"Prepared for what? There's three of you and you have me as backup." Mrs. Venus responded.

"Even so, they want us to come. You heard what they said. It's just asking for us to enter a trap" Forrest pointed out.

"Well do you have any good ideas to make sure we can save them without falling into a trap?" Mrs. Venus demanded.

"No, if you want this done quickly we just spring the trap on ourselves and deal with it however we can." Forrest crossed his arms.

"I mean…what if we bait them into a trap like they are?" Emu spoke up for the first time with his idea.

"Baiting the bait of a trap into another trap? Are you serious?" Forrest demanded.

"Are you still feeling under the weather from when you sparred against Mrs. Venus?" Mars asked Emu.

"You did what?!" Rina demanded to Emu.

"Not important. And yes I'm serious. We send one of us in as long as we can to spring the trap. And then when they think they've got us, that's when we spring the trap on them as well." Emu suggested.

"...it could work." Mrs. Venus nodded after thinking. "But that's assuming they'll take the bait. How do you know they will?"

"I think I'm a good enough actor to pull it off. Just give me some time and then I'll give the signal that it's okay to go." Emu explained.

Mrs. Venus thought about it for a moment then gave an understanding nod.

Forrest thought about it as well.

Rina on the other hand took less than a second to react. "What? Emu, no, that's not safe!"

"Someone has to do it. If it comes down to it, I'd rather myself get hurt or killed than either of you" Emu shrugged nonchalantly.

"Who said anything about dying?" Forrest narrowed his eyes in questioning.

"Don't pretend that's not a risk you thought about as well." Mars commented.

"Alright, I'm gonna stop you all right there before you go any farther." Mrs. Venus quickly intervened. "We're gonna go through this plan." She decided despite Rina's objections and Forrest's hesitance. "Alright Emu, run through exactly how you plan for this trap to go again."

"First off, does any one of you know what a wire is?"

* * *

Emu walked into the warehouse calmly, fixing his collar as he looked around carefully. It took him a second to spot the chained up Fea and Horn. The two spotted him and reacted, though they didn't say anything.

He almost rushed to help them before realizing the situation and stopping. He felt the cold metal of the Rift Strikers gun barrel on the back of his head a second later.

"So you're at least aware to not just blindly rush in. Good job."

Emu slowly held up his hands in resignation.

"Remove everything you may have in your pockets." The voice ordered.

Emu gently and quietly started taking everything out of his pockets, putting them on the ground next to him. The figure behind him kicked everything out of the way.

"Go stand by your friends."

Emu complied, walking over and standing between Fea and Horn.

"Nice job, Emu." Fea sarcastically remarked.

"Shut up." He said back.

"Turn around, human."

Emu turned around, taking notice of the figure in light blue armor standing across from him with the gun.

"My name is Aqua Knight." The figure said in a suave and calm voice.

"Another Knight?" Emu realized. "How many more of you are there?"

"Enough." Aqua Knight simply said.

Emu swallowed a breath before he spoke again.

"What are those things showing u-"

"Don't bother asking questions I'm not going to answer." Aqua Knight interrupted.

"…well, what are you going to answer?" Horn said.

Aqua Knight did not give a reply.

"…why are you doing this?" Fea tried next.

"The mission needs to be completed. You RiftRangers needed to be warned and deterred from trying to stop us." Aqua Knight calmly explained.

The three looked between each other, as if questioning what to do.

"How…exactly are you going to deter us?" Emu pointed out.

Aqua Knight shrugged. "I need to somehow. Though it is just a warning. So I believe this will suffice." He then aimed the gun at Fea.

"NO!" Emu jumped in front of the Wingal girl as Aqua Knight pulled the trigger.

BANG!

"GAH!" Emu fell to the ground clutching his shoulder, blood beginning to come out of where the bullet struck him.

"EMU!" Fea yelled out in shock.

Horn let out a loud yelp.

"…that will suffice instead." Aqua Knight tossed the gun to the ground. "That was only a warning. Do not attempt to stop us. Or we will do worse."

Horn angrily glared at Aqua Knight as the chains binding him suddenly grew tight. Horn's muscles suddenly grew larger and larger as the metal clamps began creaking under the strain of the increase in size.

"Oh yes, your species can change size based on emotion, right? And I assume you are angry right now, hence the growth." Aqua Knight nodded. "Very well. I shall take my leave. Good-BUH!" he was interrupted when a fist slammed into the side of his helmet harshly.

Mrs. Venus winced in pain as she flicked her wrist, but her primary expression of anger didn't leave her face. She picked up the Rift Striker and looked over it as Rina ran into the warehouse.

"Emu!" Rina ran up to her friend. "Are you okay? Why did you do that?!" she demanded.

Emu looked up at Rina while she removed his hand from his shoulder and looked over the wound. "I wasn't just going to let Fea get hurt." Emu winced as Rina started putting pressure on his wound.

Mrs. Venus walked over and kneeled next to Emu, taking a quick look at him.

"The Rift Striker wasn't set to stun, so the bullet was made of pure energy. If that's the case it should've cauterized at least some of the flesh as it entered. There are no remnants but we'll have to get him immediate medical attention." Mrs. Venus gave a quick diagnosis.

Aqua Knight got to his feet.

"So you brought backup. I don't see how that'll help you." He cracked his neck and rubbed at where he was hit.

But as he taunted them, he took note of the chains trapping Horn that seemed to be about to break. He took note of Mrs. Venus's furious expression and powerful right hook. He took note of the approaching figure behind him.

So he took his chances.

Aqua Knight ducked under the swing Forrest performed and jumped back. He drew a sword quickly then slashed the air, the Rift that formed closing as soon as he jumped in.

Mrs. Venus grit her teeth in anger as she pulled back her sleeve to expose her Rift Closer. She reached up to the button. "I'm going after him." She hissed. "Rina, get Emu back to the base and help him. Forrest, free Fea and make sure she's alright. Horn, calm down before you hurt yourself."

"Got it." Rina nodded, wrapping Emu's arm around her shoulders, taking care not to do it with the arm on his injured arm.

Forrest moved to free Fea before Mrs. Venus was done speaking.

Horn took deep breaths to try and calm himself down, his size decreasing as he tried to calm down.

Mrs. Venus took note of everything happening to make sure it was all fine before running at where Aqua Knight just was.

* * *

Aqua Knight landed softly on the ground as the Rift closed behind him. He was in an alleyway of some planet with a skyline consisting of a multitude of upside down triangular skyscrapers, but he could care less what the name was.

That deterrent wasn't excessive enough, but it'd do for now. A simple disorientation that slightly weakened the group before a much larger assault would prove fruitful in the coming future.

It'd buy him enough time to find a few more of what he needed. Aside from that, now he just needed to have perfect timing to execute the-

"Where do you think you're going, you sack of shit." Mrs. Venus growled behind him.

Aqua Knight didn't have enough time to spin around when something struck him in the small of his back and sent him stumbling such that his face landed on the corner of a metal box, though his helmet protected his face. The same couldn't be said for how his neck bent painfully backwards for a brief second.

Mrs. Venus cracked her neck, her furious look present on her face as she pulled the lever back on her Rift Closer.

 **Rift Opened!**

Energy covered Mrs. Venus to change her into her RiftRanger form.

 **Kitsune! World Connected!**

"MasterRanger."

 **Master Staff!**

"Get ready asshole. I'm about to tear you a new one." She pointed her weapon at Aqua Knight.

Aqua Knight simply got into a ready stance with his sword.

He didn't expect her to suddenly be in front of him and swinging her weapon at full force.

Aqua Knight barely managed to bring his weapon up to guard himself in time. He wasn't able to guard himself from the kick to his stomach. After that disoriented him, MasterRanger was able to break through his guard and then strike him repeatedly across his front.

Aqua Knight fell back but caught himself before he could fall down. That didn't work a second later when MasterRanger violently slammed her foot into his stomach again.

When he folded forward she slammed the edge of her Master Staff into the side of his helmet.

As a result, the Knight fell to the side and rolled across the ground, though he managed to catch himself and use his momentum to raise himself up onto one knee.

"How troublesome." He whispered to himself.

"I'll give you troublesome." Given MasterRanger had enhanced hearing, she could hear what he said clearly. Her Master Staff was converted to gun mode. Aqua Knight hurriedly slashed the air to summon a Rift as she aimed her weapon and fired.

The Peasants that jumped out of the Rift were blasted right back into it with a violent explosion. The next bolt of energy struck the ground right in front of Aqua Knight and sent him falling backwards with a cloud of dust forming from the area of impact.

MasterRanger appeared from the cloud and pressed her Master Staff to his shoulder.

"Let's see how you like it."

The resulting explosion of energy sent Aqua Knight flying out of the alleyway and tumbling across the ground while MasterRanger only stumbled backwards a few steps. She quickly regained her bearing and followed after her prey.

Aqua Knight hurriedly stood up, ignoring the fact that the fight was attracting civilians. He raised up his sword and formed another Rift.

"I apologize, my Queen. But I request your aid. Permit me the use of Gigant Peasants. I beg of you." Aqua Knight bowed.

MasterRanger stepped out of the alleyway, but paused, silently observing what was happening and taking note of it all.

This move was a mistake.

Out of the Rift, more Peasants emerged, only they were covered in energy quickly after and began enlarging into Gigant form. Aqua Knight turned in place to form another Rift, jumping through that and closing it, but leaving behind the Rift that was still open for Peasants to jump through and become Gigant Peasants.

MasterRanger mentally cursed herself before running forward, weaving around the Peasants as they were growing in size and escaping the Rift. She didn't look through the Rift as she kicked a Peasant back through it and then quickly closed it.

Pivoting in place, she looked up at the growing Peasants.

 _Great. Looks like I'll have to handle this myself. Haven't used THAT in a while._

MasterRanger opened a Rift and tossed her Master Staff into it before she brought her Rift Closer to her mouth and pressed the button.

"Rift Legend. Come here."

Out of an orange colored Rift in the sky, an orange and black blur darted out to strike several Gigant Peasants before leaping onto an empty space and sitting down comfortably, revealing it was a primarily black fox-shaped machine. It had white on its paws and orange lines and highlights running up and down its body. Its head had an orange arrow going down to the tip of its nose. From the back of the machine, there hung 9 tails colored the same as the rest of the body, but with the tips having a different color. The 9 different colors were red, violet, blue, magenta, black, green, white, cyan, and yellow.

 **Kitsune! Legend!**

MasterRanger looked up at her Legend and backed into the Rift that formed behind her, teleporting into the cockpit of the Legend.

"Hey Kitsune Legend. It's been a while, hasn't it?" she said while taking the main portion of her Rift Closer off the brace on her wrist and plugging it into the stand next to her.

She cracked her neck as the cockpit activated around her and the black lines on her stand turned a bright orange.

"Let's get to work." The eyes on her helmet lit up as she crouched down on the ground then assumed a pose that looked like she was a predator about to pounce on her prey.

* * *

Kitsune Legend mimicked MasterRanger's pose exactly. It then jumped into the air, attacking the nearest Gigant Peasant. It drove its claws across its face before jumping into the air and somersaulting around, diving at a second Gigant Peasant and tackling it to the ground.

The Legend darted off of the Peasant and onto another one quickly, jumping onto its chest but then jumping off immediately onto another. Kitsune Legend jumped onto its head, digging its paws into its eyes before jumping back off and flipping backwards to slam its tails into the head of the Gigant Peasant it had barely scraped before.

Kitsune Legend continued its jumping around and attacking for several minutes, leaping all over the place and assaulting several of the Gigant Peasants, though a great number still remained.

After a bit, it simply stopped and stared at the group. Its paw came up to rub at its face.

* * *

MasterRanger panted as she rubbed at her helmet with her hand, trying to think about her next move.

 _There's still too many of them. I can't handle them in just Kitsune Legend…I do still have that other mode though._

She stood up and reached over to her stand, pressing the button on her Rift Closer.

"Mega Shift."

 **Legend, Transform!**

* * *

Kitsune Legend stood up on its hind legs. Then those legs extended further with its paws retracting and being replaced by human-like feet. The arms did the same, extending and the paws being replaced with hands. The head of the Legend folded onto its chest to reveal a second, smaller head. This head was silver on the inside with a humanoid face that had a guard of sorts over where its mouth was and a pair of orange eyes. The outside of the helmet was black and was somewhat star-shaped, with four points jutting off the sides and top. The tails popped off and reattached to its back.

 **Ready! Rift Mega!**

Rift Mega cracked its neck as it spread its legs and got into a ready stance. The tails it had spun around rapidly for a few seconds before stopping on the violet tail, which pointed upwards.

The first Gigant Peasant that attacked received a fist driven through its face that was followed through by a kick to its stomach. Rift Mega pivoted on its foot and struck another nearby Peasant with a kick.

Upon both feet being on the ground, Rift Mega jabbed at a nearby Gigant Peasant with its fist then slammed its other knuckle across its cheek.

The tails began spinning again, this time stopping on the magenta tail.

Rift Mega stiffened briefly but dashed forward, kicking at several more and quickly dodging out of the way of the retaliating attacks as they came at it. The mecha ducked under a swing from a Gigant Peasant and struck that same Peasant with a quick series of punches to its chest, its fists blurring as the punches flew through into its chest.

Rift Mega stopped punching and backed away as its tails spun again. This time, it stopped on green. Rift Mega stiffened for a second again as a Gigant Peasant tried to attack while it was busy.

The punch made contact but resulted in no damage at all. Rift Mega responded by slamming its fist into the Peasants stomach, sending it flying through the air.

Rift Mega proceeded to spin around and elbow a Peasant behind it harshly then lash out with a kick to the stomach of a second one, sending the two of them crumpling to the ground as a result of the force behind the attacks.

Several Gigant Peasants jumped onto Rift Mega from behind, trying to dogpile it and overwhelm it. Its sudden strength proved to be enough to toss a few of them off, though a few members of that group clung on tightly.

The tails on the back began spinning again, which resulted in them falling off as the tails landed on cyan this time. The four main tails that were used to change fighting styles remained, though the other five popped off with a handle forming from the body to cause it to resemble a kind of axe. Rift Mega spun around and grabbed hold of the handle with both hands, brandishing its new weapon before it moved forward to start swinging.

The axe struck the Gigant Peasants that came close, cutting into them and resulting in them crumpling to the ground.

When it had done enough damage and rounded up the remaining Peasants, the tails on its back began spinning rapidly as the tails on its axe spun as well.

 **Mega Destroyer! Dynamic!**

 **"Mastered Rift Ender!"** MasterRanger shouted as she held up her Master Staff, which she had pulled in from a Rift, as it was covered in energy. MasterRanger stabbed her weapon forward then swung it around harshly while spinning around to face the opposite direction.

Rift Mega followed her movements exactly, its axe glowing as it stabbed forward to cut through a bit of the crowd before it was brought back. It swung to the right with an arc of energy shooting out from it to cut through the last of the Gigant Peasants.

The mecha faced away from the crowd, which quickly exploded soon after.

* * *

MasterRanger panted as she set her Master Staff against the platform and leaned against it.

She looked up at the remains of a Gigant Peasant she had destroyed then turned in place to look at another. And then another. And then another. And her turning finally stopped when she spotted the remains of the small crowd she had just obliterated.

"…dammit." MasterRanger sighed.

* * *

Mrs. Venus walked into the main room of the base, her head held high as she walked up to the table and sat down at it. Mars was also in the room, staring at the screen as it displayed Rift Mega fighting against the Gigant Peasants.

Mrs. Venus took note of a cup on the table and picked it up, looking over it. After realizing it was most likely for her, she lightly chuckled. "Thanks for the drink, Mars." She thanked him before drinking form the cup.

"You lost control of your emotions again, didn't you?" Mars questioned.

Mrs. Venus didn't answer him.

"You need to gain better control of yourself. I understand that what happened is enough of an excuse, but you're lucky nothing serious happened. Next time there could be much worse consequences."

"You act like I can control how I react to what I feel. You may be much older than I am in terms of how long you've lived, but that doesn't mean you know everything about this. Why else would I have retired so early to become the boss of a team if I couldn't control my emotions?"

"Even so." Mars finally turned around to face Mrs. Venus. He pointed at the screen where Rift Mega destroyed the crowd with its finisher "This is why you have to keep it under control."

"You know, just telling me to do it without actually listening to what I'm saying about why I can't isn't going to do either of us any good." Mrs. Venus dryly remarked.

"It isn't going to do anyone any good if you keep going around causing destruction like you just did either." Mars snapped. "You asked me to help you get better control and I plan to do that no matter what."

"All because I asked you to do it. My hero." Mrs. Venus sarcastically said. "What a good worker you are." She stood up and pushed her chair back in.

"Mrs. Venus. Please listen to me." Mars tried.

"I am, Mars. I have been. I've always listened and it's always been the same. You tell me to control myself and arrange for ways for me to get better. Only it hardly. Ever. Works." She walked around the table towards him.

"If you'd just listen-" Mars tried.

"I've had this problem all my life. And it's not just me." Mrs. Venus interrupted. "My entire species suffers from this. I just happen to have this issue more than others. You may fit the role of the wise man old enough to give advice, but that doesn't mean I can't give you advice either. Don't assume you know everything about how this situation works. You don't." she chugged the rest of her cup before wiping her lips when it was finished. "I've had a long day, I'm angry enough as it is at myself, and I don't need YOU of all people telling me I need to do the impossible if I ever want to get better." Mrs. Venus shoved her cup into Mars's hands then turned and started walking away.

"We'll talk later after I've calmed down enough. I'll listen to what you have to say then. But don't expect it to have good results."

Mars sighed. "Understood."

* * *

Emu hissed in pain as Rina tried to finish applying the bandages over his wound. He was currently back in the infirmary bed with Rina treating him. Fea was nearby, walking around the room and picking up stuff as if she was bored.

"Hey, hold still." Rina said. "It's not going to be easy doing this if you don't at least stop moving enough for me to do it."

"Sorry." Emu apologized, wincing.

"Cut him some slack, Rina." Fea requested, looking over a bottle of some kind of medication. "It's not every day you get hit by an energy bullet, but when it does, it's gonna hurt no matter what."

"Why did you even do that in the first place?" Rina questioned Emu. "Humans are much more vulnerable to these than Wingals. If anything, Fea'd have bruised skin but she'd be fine."

Emu shrugged. "I wasn't going to let anyone get hurt at all if I could help it. I didn't know Wingals are more durable than humans. All I knew was that someone I knew needed protecting from something, and I was willing to sacrifice myself to make sure she was okay."

"But from something as minor as this?" Rina raised an eyebrow.

"Hey. It may be minor to you and to me, but not to him at least." Fea pointed out while taking out a roll of what looked like gauze from a drawer.

Emu gave a brief nod of confirmation.

"It's touching that you care so much, but you're lucky it was only your shoulder. What if you got hit in the heart or something? You could've died." Rina pointed out.

Emu took less than a second to think before he just shrugged.

Rina was baffled by his response.

"Why do you care so much, Rina?" Fea asked. "He acted up in the heat of the moment. Sure, it could've been worse but it's not what it could've been. You're making sure he's fine now by fixing him up and it was just a minor hole in his chest. Besides, I thought you liked it when guys had scars." Fea pointed out.

"Fea, now is not the time to talk about what I like in men. You are severely missing the point here." Rina snapped at her. "Actually, why are you here anyways? How are you contributing?"

"I wanted to tell Emu he didn't have to do what he did but thank him nonetheless. But where I'm from, it's respectful to do so alone where your true feelings can be known and shown. I'm just waiting for you to leave, Rina." Fea admitted.

"…awfully rude about something supposedly respectful." Rina murmured.

"Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry for making you worry." Emu admitted.

"Just promise me you'll be a bit more careful with your health next time." Rina requested.

Emu opened his mouth to respond but paused when he couldn't find a response.

Fea looked at Emu, noticing his silence as well.

"…Emu?" Rina placed her hand on his with a concerned tone in her voice.

"I…I can't guarantee that I'll try my best to keep myself safe." Emu quietly responded.

Rina and Fea were surprised by his response, Fea looking at Emu in surprise while Rina had a concerned and shocked look.

The door opened with Mrs. Venus walking in.

"Hey. Good. Fea and Rina are already here. That saves me the trouble of calling them." She said.

"Calling us for what?" Fea asked.

"A meeting. We all need to talk and I assumed Emu wouldn't have been able to go far and would've needed time to rest in bed."

"What? No, I'm fine" Emu said, to which Rina gave him a quick glance.

"Your voice says that but the bullet hole in your shoulder says otherwise. I've already called Forrest and Horn to meet us in this room and I'm not cancelling that order." Mrs. Venus said.

The four were silent for a few seconds before Emu spoke up again.

"Hey, uh, Mrs. Venus? I have to ask, why did you go after that guy yourself?"

Mrs. Venus raised an eyebrow before she shrugged. "Why not? He thought he was gonna get away, but I wasn't going to have him do what he did without repercussions."

"You didn't have to do it alone though." Emu said.

Mrs. Venus nodded in understanding but still opened her mouth to respond.

"There's something about me you'll hear as my best trait, but you never will know just how true it is until you experience it for yourself. I may come off as sarcastic and not serious, but I am fiercely loyal, protective, and defensive of those I care for. It does not matter for how little time I've cared for you or for how long. If there is something after you that I don't believe you can handle alone, bet everything you have that I'll be there to kick the ass of whatever it is troubling you, because you're gonna get double what you gambled."

Emu was silent, unsure of how exactly to respond to that.

"But keep in mind that the longer I know you, the less likely I am to do so and I'm also sarcastic and not serious cause I know you can handle it." His boss grinned slyly.

"Oh, well that's comforting for those of us that aren't new." Horn remarked as he entered the room with Forrest following soon after. Forrest eyed Emu but otherwise said nothing.

"Good. You guys are here. We all need to talk." Mrs. Venus said.

"What's the issue?" Forrest asked.

"The Knight type warriors." Mrs. Venus explained. "The Knight type warriors we've faced are connected through the first attack on Earth, the thieving across the Earth, the assassin that attacked us on Skaia, and now Aqua Knight setting these orb things on Earth."

"Yeah…that's true." Fea nodded.

"Hang on." Rina spoke up. "With the exception of Dark Knight, everyone had something to do with Earth 385. My question is: Why? What's so special about this specific Earth?" she wondered.

Mrs. Venus turned to Rina and Forrest.

"Since it ties into what we were doing, I need you to report on what you found about what Silver Knight stole."

* * *

Inside the throne room, a screen played the fight between Rift Mega and the Gigant Peasants.

Master stood in between the seats of Prince and Princess. Beside Princess, Maid stood with a platter that held a black drink in a glass. Beside Prince, Hand stood with his hands behind his back. Prince looked rather bored while Princess looked a bit worried. Master had a blank expression. Maid on the other hand looked extremely in awe of Rift Mega and how well it was fighting. On the opposite side, Hand looked to be glaring at Rift Mega with a somewhat angry look.

The silhouette of Queen was leaning forward in her seat, quite interested in the fight.

The fight ended soon enough.

"Very interesting, Master. What was the point of showing us this fight?" Princess asked.

"It would appear that we need to watch out for 'Mrs. Venus' if we are to succeed." Master explained.

"Yes. I have certainly gathered that. But it was an interesting fight despite that. Maybe we can convince her to join us. We could use a warrior like her on our side." Queen put her hand to her chin. "Though I do wonder: you did say you were going to get them out of our way. How exactly did that plan result in me having to send out a squadron of Gigant Peasants only for them to end up MARVELOUSLY destroyed?"

"Aqua Knight was supposed to handle that, my Queen. It would appear he has made an error."

"No. Princess falling for a member of a team of police we've indirectly gotten involved with through you four times now is an error." Prince pointed out. "This is just more evidence of your incompetence."

"Prince." Queen warned. "He does however, have a point, Master. I'm growing tired of your plans resulting in the same outcomes. What we are doing isn't exactly legal and getting involved with the police in a way that could lead them back to us is a big mistake. Do not let it happen again."

Master gave a bow in response. "I understand, my Queen. Excuse me."

He turned and started leaving the room, being watched by the three members of the royal family.

 _I apologize. But I have no intention of listening to your orders. This is my mission. And I will complete it with or without your approval. You can suffer all you want from what I do later. But this is my decision, my Queen._

Master smirked as he entered a Rift and left.

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The five RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, and MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Minotaur Legend and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend was on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.


	8. Rift 8

Rift 8: The Targeted World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Master stepped up to the machine that the Peasants were building. The Rift he had opened closed behind him. There was no reason to worry, he had made sure to open Rifts from the throne room to a separate location but then walked to other places and then teleported from there to somewhere else, repeating this process. He had to make sure they weren't able to track him. He couldn't have that. Not at all.

"Hmm…Project X is coming along rather nicely, right Ruby Knight?" Master asked the female Knight, who was a few steps ahead of him.

She lightly jumped and turned around to find him standing there.

"Oh, Master. I didn't expect to see you there, I'm sorry." She apologized.

"There's nothing to apologize for. Now report."

"Project X is going smoothly. Aqua Knight set much of the End Charges that we supplied him with. He is resting in-" Ruby Knight began reporting.

However, Master quickly interrupted her. "Good. And the machine?"

Ruby Knight flipped through several pages on her clipboard before finding what she was looking for. "Well…it's almost completed. Planet X will be ready to start moving very soon."

Master nodded. A grin grew across his face as he stepped up next to Ruby Knight and looked up at the machine.

Things were proceeding just as planned. Well, except for one thing.

Master slightly turned to his subordinate. "Tell Aqua Knight to get out of bed and keep setting the Charges."

Ruby Knight was taken aback by this order. "Master, he's still injured."

"I know. But he has most of them done though, correct?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then he can finish it quickly then come back. Simple as that."

"Master, he was brutally beaten by that orange RiftRanger. I'm not sure he can last long at all if-" Ruby Knight paused as Master held up his hand.

He seemed to be contemplating something for a moment before he nodded and turned around.

"Very well. Come, Ruby Knight. We will observe to be sure he is fine. But if he is not, then it may be time for us to make ourselves known to them." Master ordered.

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master and joined MasterRanger on the ground.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Rina tried to calm herself down as she started speaking to the small crowd that was staring at her. The crowd was just her coworkers and boss, but still.

"Okay. So to start, Forrest and I looked into where the items Silver Knight stole went. Forrest couldn't find anything related to selling them, and I haven't found what they need them for, but I have several ideas. I'd need to analyze those things on Earth to find out what they are, but I believe they connect to whatever it is that the Knight group is building, if they are indeed a group instead of just people with coincidentally similar names and themes."

"What could Silver Knight be building?" Horn asked.

"I doubt it's him." Fea commented. "He seemed a bit too much like an idiot."

"Well, him or not, you could build a lot with the amount he took. With regards to items mixed in, it turns out the type of materials stolen, primarily rare Earth jewels and metals, do not react well with most combinations featuring materials from outside of that solar system. That narrows the list down a lot. However, it narrows it down primarily to machines that are destructive in nature. Some exceptions include machines that mask a planets…well…everything, which is most notable for rendering that planet unaffected by gravity of that system; machines that can change the appearance of one thing to another; machines that can put dozens of individuals under hypnosis, and so on and so forth. It's hard to say what it is specifically, as we'd need to do a lot of guessing and assuming to come to a set conclusion, and even then we wouldn't have a definite location."

"No." Mrs. Venus. "But we'd have a definite place to start. Rina, go down and start analyzing." She pivoted in place to look at Fea. "Fea, go down and make sure she isn't assaulted. Forrest, you help with the analysis."

"What do I do?" Emu asked.

Mrs. Venus gave Emu a blank stare. "…stay in bed and relax while you heal? What else did you think I was gonna allow you to do?"

"I can help." Emu said.

"Probably. But not right now unless absolutely necessary." Mrs. Venus briefly made eye contact with Mars, who gave a nod after a second. "Horn, you stay and make sure no more of these orbs show up."

Horn nodded in agreement.

"I'm gonna make a call to the council for assistance with this. When I'm done, I'll come help Horn. Alright. Let's get moving, people." Mrs. Venus ordered.

Rina gave a sympathetic pat to Emu's non-injured shoulder before she left with the others. Aside from Mars, who patiently waited by Emu's bed.

"Mars? What are you doing?" Emu looked up at him.

"Mrs. Venus wants to make sure you stay in bed and heal." Mars simply said. "…I looked into her mind when she looked into my eyes." He explained.

"Oh, that's right. You can do that." Emu nodded.

The two sat in silence for a few moments.

"…you know how to play poker?" Emu broke the silence.

Mars looked him in the eyes for a second. "…I do now. I'll go get cards."

* * *

Rina eyed the orb floating in the air above her. In her hand was her activated Rift Closer, a holographic screen forming over that with an image of the orb on it.

Fea sat on the ground with a bored expression as she stared up at her friend. Forrest also stood nearby, though he was facing away from them with his arms crossed, keeping watch.

Fea looked at Forrest. "Hey, weren't you supposed to be helping with the analysis?"

Forrest turned to look at her. "It's Rina. She's a genius. Unless she explicitly says she needs my help, I'm not gonna be useful."

"That's…not necessarily true." Rina turned back to look at him.

"Yes. It is." Fea nodded in agreement. "I feel dumb for asking, to be honest."

Rina didn't respond and instead just got back to analyzing.

A couple of minutes passed by as she studied the orb.

Fea leaned back until she fell flat on her back.

"Rinaaaaaaa…how much longer?" she whined.

"Well…I don't know. All I can find is that it's pure Rift Energy. If I can't find anything else I'll have to get into testing it and all that, but that will take a while." Rina explained.

"Can you take it back to the base to analyze?" Forrest looked over his shoulder.

Rina bit the inside of her cheek as she thought. "Hmm…no. It's locked in this specific point in space. I can't unlock it right now or even if I had a couple of weeks time."

"So we have to stay here?" Fea groaned.

"Just find a way to pass the time." Forrest responded.

Fea begrudgingly pulled out her Rift Closer and started messaging someone.

* * *

Elsewhere, Princess was chatting with Maid at a table. The two were in a small and blank room with a platter and tea set sitting in between them on the table.

Princess was stirred from her conversation by a beeping from the table. At first thinking it was from her mother, she sighed while upset at her free time being disrupted. However, she was taken by surprise when she saw it was a message from Fea.

"…my Princess?" Maid said when she noticed Princess had frozen.

Princess did not react.

"Princess? What's wrong?" Maid gently asked, prepared to go over to her.

"What? Oh. Sorry. Fea just messaged me."

"Oh, really? What'd she say?"

"She's on an investigation right now but she wants to talk because she has nothing else to do, what do I say?"

"…if she's on a job, shouldn't she be working?" Maid pointed out.

"…good point." Princess repeated that into a message of her own, becoming surprised when Fea messaged back soon after.

"Uh…she says that the resident genius of her team is taking care of it and she's just backup in case someone attacks."

"Oh." Maid nodded.

"What do I say?" Princess repeated.

"Just talk to her like you would normally." Maid suggested. "Talking to your girlfriend over messaging isn't any different from talking in person."

"Yes. It is." Princess insisted. "…and she's not my girlfriend. I think."

* * *

Forrest turned to look at Fea as she messaged someone using her Rift Closer.

"…are you seriously messaging your girlfriend over your Rift Closer?"

"Princess isn't my girlfriend. Yet…and yes, I am messaging her. You told me to pass the time."

"Not by messaging a loved one using something not for that purpose."

"Gods Forrest, will you lighten up? It's a personal device given to everyone. I'm pretty sure something as mundane as messaging someone not a Rift Guardian isn't that bad."

"Just because it's mundane doesn't mean it's allowed. Rina, back me up." Forrest said.

"…well…it's not against the rules, just highly frowned upon." Rina spoke up.

"See? Why do you have a problem with it anyways? It's not like it's that big of a deal." Fea said.

"I've just been…thinking about something that worries me." Forrest admitted.

"Are you still on that Emu thing?" Fea asked.

"What Emu thing?" Rina quickly jumped into the conversation.

"Nothing that's important." Forrest said.

"He's weird around Emu" Fea pointed out. "He's especially been weird after they had that fight in the field."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Forrest crossed his arms.

"Forrest, what do you have against Emu?" Rina asked.

Forrest sighed. "I don't trust him. Don't you notice how he's hiding something? Whatever it is, there is no way that he is what he seems. He's dangerous, Rina."

Before Rina could respond, there was a beeping from Forrest's Rift Closer.

Upon checking it, he sighed. "Mrs. Venus and Horn have reported that more of these orbs have started showing up. I've gotta go check them out."

Just before he activated his Rift Closer, he turned to Rina. "Remember what I said. Emu is dangerous and can't be trusted."

* * *

"Checkmate." Mars dropped his hand of cards onto the table.

"…again. I don't think you're playing the, uh, right game." Emu said.

The two were still in the infirmary, but Emu wasn't in bed. Instead, the two were sitting at a table playing cards.

"You know a lot of games involving cards. I may be intelligent but it's hard to keep track." Mars squinted as he looked into Emu's eyes.

"…chess doesn't involve cards." Emu pointed out.

Mars stared for a few more seconds before nodding. "So it doesn't. Oh well. Let's try again."

Emu picked up Mars's cards with a grin and started shuffling them again, taking care to not put his arm through too much work.

"I find it odd that you are alright with me looking into your mind so often."

It was an odd topic that Mars had pondered before, but now that he was here perhaps it would be best to ask the person in question about it.

Emu shrugged. "It doesn't bother me that much. You already know my worst secret and have kept it a secret. Everything else seems trivial at this point."

"You're okay with me knowing whatever is on your mind at the current time, like your personal thoughts and feelings?" Mars raised an eyebrow.

Emu didn't seem to react negatively to that.

"…you're okay with me knowing your personal romantic and sexual feelings towards a specific member or two of your team?"

That got a reaction out of Emu, who froze and turned bright red.

"That's…uh…I…" he tried to shuffle but seemed to be awkwardly fumbling with the cards.

Mars let out a sudden and uncharacteristic laugh.

"Shut up." Emu said. "Do you have anyone you care for, Mars?" Emu asked.

"What do you mean? Of course I have people I care for." Mars stated in a manner that seemed to be reminiscent of a parent talking down to a child.

"I mean like a loved one. Someone who you care for more than you would normally for anyone else. I'm talking about romantic and sexual feelings like you've mentioned I have."

Mars stared at Emu for a bit but then leaned back in his chair. "…well…yes, actually. Back on La-Iabges, I have a fiancé."

"Really? Congrats, man." Emu patted Mars on the shoulder, to which Mars looked at Emu weirdly. Though Emu had started dealing cards and was looking down, so Mars couldn't see what that was about.

"Yeah. Her name is Neptune. She is…the love of my life. I take a few days off every month just to go home to see her."

"Are you two okay with not seeing each other often because of your job?" Emu asked.

"It is…troublesome. But we are willing to make do with what we've been given." Mars explained.

"But why work so hard when you can be happy otherwise?"

"We are happy in this situation." Mars said. "It is troublesome and we could be together more often if I was in a different job on our world, but this job provides a lot of money that will help us out. It's all I can really do, as well. I don't have Rift Energy so I can't be a RiftRanger, so I'll just do what I can with this."

"…wait, we get paid?" Emu blinked in confusion.

Mars just stared at Emu blankly. "…it's a job. You work. You risk your life by changing into an armored suit to combat those who use excessive force that could potentially be lethal. Do you know how many riots there would be if you weren't paid?"

"I just…never thought about getting paid for this. This seemed like a volunteer job more than anything else."

"Well, not everyone else simply wants to do this job for free like you do. Check your bank accounts, I'm sure you'll be in for a surprise." Mars grinned as he picked up his cards.

"How…do they know my bank information? How do the banks not question where I'm getting this money from? I thought humanity doesn't know about the Rift Guardians."

"You'd be surprised how little the banks on Earth care when the people submitting the money sound official enough. And it's to my understanding you were rich to begin with, so a little more shouldn't be that big of a deal." Mars looked over his cards and rearranged them briefly before throwing them onto the table. "Royal straight flush."

Emu just stared.

"…so what does your fiancé do?"

* * *

Forrest walked out of the Rift and looked around briefly.

 _The orbs keep appearing. If they're right in their calculations, it should be somewhere around here next…_

He walked around for a bit but paused when he turned a corner and spotted something going on in an alleyway. It took him a second to quickly back up and hide while looking into the alley.

A bit further down, a figure that Forrest recognized as Aqua Knight was holding his hand into the air while facing away from the entrance.

Blue aura formed around the hand as it fluidly moved and performed different movements and forms. A few feet above the hand was a small glowing ball of energy. Above that was a Rift that had lines of energy channeling out of it and into the ball to make the orb grow in size.

Forrest quickly messaged Mrs. Venus before he pulled out his Rift Striker and walked into the alley, aiming the gun at Aqua Knight.

"Stop what you're doing." He ordered. "I'm taking you into custody."

Aqua Knight paused his movements.

"Put both hands where I can see them and turn around to face me. We can do this the easy way, or the fun way."

Forrest approached but found Aqua Knight was not doing what he ordered. However, he did not get a chance to call him out when Aqua Knight performed a hand movement and channeled energy into his hand before spinning around.

Forrest pulled the trigger while Aqua Knight thrust his hand towards Forrest.

The respective energy bolt that fired from the two made contact with its intended target, the shot from Forrest hitting Aqua Knight in the hand he used to shoot while the ball of energy that Aqua Knight had fired hit Forrest in the chest.

"GUH!" Forrest clutched at his chest as what felt like a punch slammed into it.

"AH!" Aqua Knight cried out in pain and clutched at his hand.

Aqua Knight formed another Rift and jumped into it while Forrest fell to the ground, in pain. He harshly coughed while beating at his chest.

* * *

Aqua Knight fell out of the Rift and landed on the shore of a beach, clutching his hand.

Just before he could get up, he heard another Rift open up behind him.

Not a few seconds later, something harshly slammed into his neck from the side and sent him flying to the ground.

Mrs. Venus lowered her leg after shaking it briefly. She approached Aqua Knight while cracking her neck.

"Remember me?" she asked while holding up her wrist and pulling back her sleeve to show off her Rift Closer.

She paused when there was a Rift that opened behind her.

"Mrs. Venus?" Rina's voice asked.

"Why are you here?" Mrs. Venus demanded.

Rina and Fea walked up on either side of their boss.

"I've finished my analysis. I'm here to help." Rina nodded.

"It's my job to watch Rina's back. So I'll do that right now." Fea grinned.

"…fine. Do whatever you want." Mrs. Venus said.

Aqua Knight got to his feet while tightly gripping his hand. Knowing he couldn't get away so easily, he held his injured hand out to the side to form a Rift. Energy channeled into his body through his hand, and he eventually closed the Rift while drawing a sword and getting into a ready stance.

In unison, Mrs. Venus, Fea, and Rina held up their Rift Closers and activated them.

"Open the Rift! Connect the Worlds!"

 **Rift Opened!**

 **Kraken!**

 **Pegasus!**

 **Kitsune!**

 **World Connected!**

The three quickly changed into their RiftRanger forms.

"The Water World! KrakenRanger!"

"The Sky World! PegasusRanger!"

"The United Worlds. MasterRanger!"

"Sekai Sentai!" KrakenRanger called.

"RiftRanger!" KrakenRanger and PegasusRanger called out as they posed together as if they were a part of the team pose. MasterRanger looked between them for a second before she joined in, holding up her right hand so the palm was facing upwards and her index finger pointed forwards and extending her left hand somewhat out to the side.

 **Wave Gun!**

 **Wing Bow!**

 **Master Staff!**

"Now, let's change the world!" KrakenRanger readied her gun.

MasterRanger was the first to rush in to attack. Aqua Knight found this out the hard way when he barely managed to deflect her Master Staff as it flew towards his head.

MasterRanger didn't seem to care about this as she jumped backwards, dodging the shots that KrakenRanger had fired at Aqua Knight.

"HAAAAAA!" PegasusRanger called out as she flew at Aqua Knight with her leg outstretched. The kick made contact with Aqua Knight's helmet and sent him stumbling back only to get hit in the chest with an energy arrow.

Aqua Knight fell to the ground and barely managed to roll out of the way of the Master Staff slamming down where his head was.

He slammed his glowing fist into the ground, a wave of energy shooting out and exploding when it reached MasterRanger and KrakenRanger.

PegasusRanger landed and tried to fire a few arrows at Aqua Knight. He rushed at her while deflecting the arrows and swung his sword at her head. Though she tried to block it with her bow, he broke through her guard and struck her repeatedly across her chest.

PegasusRanger fell back from one of the attacks and hit the ground, rolling a few feet.

Aqua Knight had less than a second to do anything after that when he was drop kicked from behind by MasterRanger.

KrakenRanger shot at him as he was falling down.

MasterRanger once again tried to swing her Master Lance downwards towards his head, only missing as he kept hurriedly moving out of the way.

* * *

Further away from the fight, there were two figures observing what was happening.

Ruby Knight appeared to be anxiously watching the fight, as if she wanted to jump in and help her comrade.

Master on the other hand was just watching nonchalantly, as if he was bored.

"Master, we should help Aqua-" Ruby Knight began to speak.

"No." Master interrupted.

"But…why?"

Master didn't even turn to look at her. "He's served his purpose up to this point. There's no need for him if he cannot fight for himself."

"But…Master-" Ruby Knight started.

"We have all that we need. If he cannot defend himself, he's useless. I only need you." Master calmly said.

Ruby Knight stared at Master in shock.

"At most he's just comic relief at this point."

"Master, how can you-"

Ruby Knight was interrupted once again by Master. "You really are too naïve for your own good, Ruby. Things aren't going to go as honorably and as well as you hope they will."

Ruby Knight was unable to find the words to respond.

"If you want to make it and truly become strong, you need to let go of your foolish ideals and adapt to this harsh universe we live in." Master said.

An explosion gathered their attention.

* * *

Aqua Knight narrowly managed to get out of the way of KrakenRanger's finisher, the cloud of sand obscuring him briefly from view.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

A gust of wind blew the dust away, the source having been a flap of PegasusRanger's wings.

She aimed her bow at him while preparing an arrow.

 **Pegasus Flap! Buster!**

 **"Pegasus Tornado Buster!"** PegasusRanger yelled as she released the arrow, sending it flying towards her target.

Aqua Knight quickly threw his hand up, the arrow hitting that instead of anywhere else on his body. He called out in pain but absorbed the energy into his body.

With this, he should be able to become a bit stronger and-

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

MasterRanger suddenly appeared in front of him, her heel slamming into his gut to send him stumbling backwards.

 **Kitsune End! Buster!**

 **"Kitsune Dividing Buster!"** MasterRanger slashed to the side with her Master Staff to strike Aqua Knight across the stomach. She then raised it up then harshly slammed it downwards.

Aqua Knight fell to the ground as MasterRanger leapt backwards while somersaulting around. She landed facing away from Aqua Knight as the Knight exploded.

MasterRanger cracked her neck as the explosion died down, revealing Aqua Knight, unlike Dark Knight after he exploded as a result of the combined team attack, was lying on the ground while his armor was covered in burn marks and cuts along with some melting metal.

KrakenRanger and PegasusRanger stared in shock at this, PegasusRanger turning to her boss.

"Don't…don't you think that was a bit overkill?"

MasterRanger didn't respond, instead turning around to look at Aqua Knight. Her body language conveyed no emotion.

* * *

Master didn't appear to really care about what had just happened. Ruby Knight on the other hand looked on in horror at her fallen comrade.

"Ruby. Make him a Gigant." Master simply ordered.

"What?! But he's hurt! He can't go on anymore!" Ruby Knight exclaimed.

"After that finisher, making him a Gigant will be the only thing that will keep him alive and heal him. So what if he gets knocked around a bit more after that?" Master barely moved to look at her out of the corner of his eye. "Do it."

Ruby Knight was unsure of how to respond or do anything else. The only thing she could do was raise her right arm up and form a Rift. Her left hand pulled a small ball off the side of her belt. She pressed a button on top of it and threw the ball into the Rift before closing it, the ball dissolving just before the Rift closed.

* * *

MasterRanger noticed the Rift open up above Aqua Knight.

"Hang on, that's just like when…" KrakenRanger realized where she had seen this before.

Aqua Knight was quickly back on his feet again as the Rift closed. He began to let out groans and grunts of pain as he began growing in size.

"Rift Legends, come here!" the blue and white RiftRangers were quick to summon their Rift Legends while MasterRanger simply watched.

 **Kraken! Legend!**

 **Pegasus! Legend!**

Kraken and Pegasus Legends showed up soon after with the respective users vanishing into Rifts to pilot them.

Kraken Legend activated and rushed towards Aqua Knight, wrapping its tentacles around him while Pegasus Legend flew towards him and started stomping its hooves all over the knight.

Aqua Knight let out some yells of pain but managed to untangle himself from Kraken Legend and then throw that into the winged horse attacking him.

Kraken Legend lost control and hit the ground, though Pegasus Legend righted itself and tried to tackle Aqua Knight. The attack failed as he grabbed hold of its head.

 **Werewolf! Legend!**

"GRAAAAAH!" Werewolf Legend suddenly jumped out of a Rift and pounced onto Aqua Knight, freeing Pegasus Legend.

 **Minotaur! Legend!**

From the opposite side, Minotaur Legend rushed in and slammed a fist into Aqua Knight's face. Werewolf Legend barely managed to avoid this.

Minotaur Legend began viciously punching at Aqua Knight, who kept backing out of the way and dodging as best as he could. Eventually, he sidestepped and tripped Minotaur Legend, sending the giant robot falling face-first into the water.

Kraken Legend jumped at him next, along with Pegasus Legend. Werewolf Legend followed up behind them.

Aqua Knight grabbed hold of Kraken Legend and threw it into Werewolf Legend while lashing out with a kick towards Pegasus Legend, knocking that back as well.

He prepared to draw his sword when a fifth Rift opened up right in front of him

 **Garuda! Legend!**

The black and red Legend tackled Aqua Knight and flew into the air above the water.

After delivering a massive shock to him, Garuda Legend dropped Aqua Knight into the water then flew back to the other Rift Legends.

* * *

GarudaRanger sighed in relief as Garuda Legend landed softly on the beach.

However, he was surprised when Kraken Legend suddenly crashed into his giant robot from behind and restrained him.

"Emu, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" KrakenRanger demanded over her Rift Closer.

GarudaRanger struggled in place.

"Uh…Rina? A little space, please?" he asked in return.

"You're hurt. You shouldn't be fighting right now!" KrakenRanger yelled at him.

"I doubt this is going to help." GarudaRanger remarked.

"Anything to make sure you don't rush into a fight and get hurt even more!"

Minotaur Legend stepped up next to Garuda Legend.

"Honestly, she does have a point, Emu. But, Rina, you really aren't helping by restraining him like that." MinotaurRanger's voice commented.

"Will you two save the romantic drama for later?" Werewolf Legend stepped up next to them.

Before GarudaRanger could respond, his eyes lit up bright enough that they could be seen through his visor.

* * *

 **Legends, Combine!**

The five Rift Legends glowed as they floated into the air.

"Not again!" MinotaurRanger yelled.

WerewolfRanger gave a simple sigh.

The Rift Legends began to shift around and combine once again as a protective sphere formed around the five.

Minotaur Legend shifted around, its legs and arms folding into its body. Its body split into two with part of the bottom half folding upwards to resemble feet.

Garuda Legend also folded up, its legs folding into each other then folding up to attach to its sides. Its arms on the other hand folded onto its back with its wings popping off.

Werewolf Legend roared and jumped into the air to have a panel on its chest and back open so its arms and legs could fold into them before the panel closed again.

Kraken Legend swam into the air with an arm extending out of the bottom of its body. The legs straightened out and combined to the sides of the arm.

Pegasus Legend had its legs combine and fold upwards into its body.

The bottom of Garuda Legend attached to the shoulders of Minotaur Legend while exposing the head as a kind of belt buckle. Then Kraken Legend attached to the right side of the body while Werewolf Legend attached to the left side of the body, the two forming arms. Pegasus Legend attached to the back of Garuda Legend in the space between its arms. The wings of Garuda Legend attached to the wings of Pegasus Legend. The head of Pegasus Legend popped off with the head folding upwards all the way, a face appearing on the neck in its place. The face of Garuda Legend pivoted upwards to show off the neck and bottom of the head. The head of Pegasus Legend attached over the face and head of Garuda Legend, forming a humanoid face that was silver with blue eyes. There was a small mouth near the chin of the face and there were markings on the side of the face in the form of three lines on each cheek that were yellow, pink, and black.

* * *

"UWAH!" GarudaRanger fell flat on his back in the combined cockpit.

"Emu! Are you crazy?!" KrakenRanger was quick to get to her feet and try to reach her ally, though she hesitated upon realizing a large jump trying to get to him would probably result in the two of them tumbling off of the platform.

"We're already this far." PegasusRanger pointed out as she got up.

"Let's just get this over with. We can deal with him later" WerewolfRanger added.

"Sorry, Rina. But this takes precedence." MinotaurRanger stood up.

KrakenRanger hesitantly faced forward like the other three as GarudaRanger stood up.

The eyes on their helmets lit up in unison, fully activating Rift Master

 **Complete! Rift Master!**

* * *

Rift Master looked up as the protective shield deactivated.

Soon after, it rushed towards Aqua Knight.

Aqua Knight didn't seem to care as he charged as well.

Rift Master landed a punch on Aqua Knight's chest, sending him stumbling backwards before it tried to kick him in the stomach.

Aqua Knight managed to evade this attack and then tried to punch the giant robot in the chest, though that did little to hurt it.

He tried again, repeatedly punching it across the chest and hitting it all over. This caused Rift Master some pause, but it eventually managed to get its bearings enough to lash out with a kick to his stomach.

Rift Master held its hand out as its sword formed, gripping it soon after. Aqua Knight responded with drawing his own blade.

The two started sword fighting, this being the area that Aqua Knight was clearly superior at. Every slash or stab that Rift Master performed, Aqua Knight was able to deflect and parry effortlessly before performing a retaliation of his own.

It came to a head when Rift Master slashed to the side. Aqua Knight ducked under the slash then struck Rift Master across the shoulder when he came back up.

* * *

"SHIT!" GarudaRanger grabbed at the same shoulder Rift Master was struck, which happened to be where he was shot. The others grabbed their shoulders as well.

"OW!" MinotaurRanger yelled.

PegasusRanger let out a light whimper of pain.

"What was that?!" WerewolfRanger demanded. "I thought these strikes didn't hurt as bad!"

"I…felt like the area where I got shot was hit." GarudaRanger explained.

"So if one of us is hurt coming in…we're all hurt coming in…" KrakenRanger realized.

"Wait! Hold on a minute!" MinotaurRanger shouted. "I don't understand. Rift Master was stabbed when we used it before but that didn't hurt us at all!"

"It's a one-way thing, I think. If one of us comes in hurt, all of us feel the pain if that part is hit. But if we're all fine then it's not going to hurt." WerewolfRanger theorized as the five stood back up.

"Forrest, you take the lead." KrakenRanger ordered. "You know how best to use a sword."

WerewolfRanger gave a nod as he got ready.

* * *

Rift Master charged again, beginning to once again fight with Aqua Knight.

The two giants clashed blades, Aqua Knight being overpowered but managing to move backwards so Rift Master stumbled forward. However, Rift Master quickly used this momentum to slammed its foot into his stomach.

Aqua Knight grunted in pain as he fell backwards, but he slashed the air in front of him, a wave of energy shooting out and striking Rift Master across the chest and the shoulder.

Rift Master reacted immediately, grabbing at its shoulder. Aqua Knight took this opportunity to stab at Rift Master's hand. The blade drove through the metal hand and directly into the wound.

Just as Aqua Knight pulled back, another Rift opened up from the side with a large figure jumping out to knock Aqua Knight to the ground.

 **Kitsune! Legend!**

The fox-based Rift Legend jumped off of Aqua Knight and landed gently on the ground next to Rift Master. It briefly turned towards Rift Master to give it a look.

After moving almost like it was laughing, it looked back and started to change.

 **Legend, Transform!**

Kitsune Legend stood up on its hind legs. Then those legs extended further with its paws retracting and being replaced by human-like feet. The arms did the same, extending and the paws being replaced with hands. The head of the Legend folded onto its chest to reveal a second, smaller head. This head was silver on the inside with a humanoid face that had a guard of sorts over where its mouth was and a pair of orange eyes. The outside of the helmet was black and was somewhat star-shaped, with four points jutting off the sides and top. The tails popped off and reattached to its back.

 **Ready! Rift Mega!**

The tails on Rift Mega's back began spinning rapidly before landing on cyan. Five of the nine tails popped off and formed its axe weapon.

The two giant mecha got into their own respective stances and then jumped into the fight.

Aqua Knight blocked a slash from Rift Master only to get headbutted by Rift Mega. Rift Mega's axe met his chest next.

Rift Mega and Rift Master alternated between attacking Aqua Knight, slashing and striking repeatedly at him.

This went on for some time until the two mecha held out their respective weapons.

 **Master Break! Dynamic!**

 **Mega Destroyer! Dynamic!**

 **"United Rift DynamiCrush!"** The five RiftRanger chorused from inside Rift Master.

 **"Mastered Rift Ender!"** MasterRanger shouted.

Rift Master slashed downwards across Aqua Knight and then backed off as Rift Mega slashed sideways across his chest. The two mecha faced away from Aqua Knight as he was covered in energy. He dropped his sword and fell backwards as he cried out in pain, exploding soon after.

Rift Mega spun around soon after while holding its free hand out towards him.

 **Arrest!**

Aqua Knight was arrested and absorbed into Rift Mega.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the throne room, there was a screen showing off the fight between Aqua Knight and the RiftRangers.

Princess gave a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing Rift Mega show up to assist Rift Master and the subsequent victory of the two mecha.

Prince was slightly interested, but still appeared to be bored with the fight.

Queen, on the other hand, was leaned so far forward to view the fight that she was almost out of the shadows she usually hid in.

"So, he failed." Prince stated. "And now there are two giant robots that we have to worry about."

Princess glanced at her brother then turned to look up at Queen, becoming a bit shocked when she saw how interested she was.

"Mother? What's wrong?" Princess asked.

"They needed Gigant Peasants…but they made one of their own giants." Queen pointed out.

Princess blinked then turned back to the screen. She hadn't thought of that.

Queen was right. They had needed the assistance of Queen to make Gigant Peasants several times but…here they were with a means to make one of their own.

"They've needed my help to make their grunts for them and yet they've made the more important fighters giant all on their own somehow. What exactly is Master trying to do?" Queen asked no one, her tone conveying interest but some anger.

* * *

Later, back in the base, Emu jumped back in surprise when Forrest angrily slammed his fist on the table.

"You endangered the team, Emu." Forrest growled.

"I know. I…I'm sorry." Emu softly said.

"Sorry? If Mrs. Venus didn't back us up, there's no telling what could've happened."

"He didn't know that would happen. None of us did." Rina jumped to Emu's defense.

"That doesn't just excuse what happened."

"Would you have done the same thing if you didn't know like he didn't?" Rina questioned.

Before Forrest could respond, Mrs. Venus grabbed him by the shoulder.

"I'll let it slide this time, Emu. Just watch out." Mrs. Venus said. "Now, I assume we have more important things to worry about?" she pointedly said to Forrest, who gave one last glare to Emu before scoffing and stepping away.

Rina took one last look at Emu then walked over to the screen across from the couch. After pulling out her Rift Closer, she used it to pull up an image of one of the orbs along with data.

"I did my best to analyze the orbs. And…I couldn't find anything else except that it was pure, unaltered Rift Energy. Pure Rift Energy in this quantity and in this state can only be used as a beacon. That's all it is. A beacon." She explained.

Mrs. Venus nodded along, having come to this realization on her own.

"Wait, how can that be a beacon?" Fea asked from the couch.

"Doesn't really make sense." Horn added from his seat next to her.

"Rift Energy can't be in a pure state for too long." Rina said. "There's always some kind of external factor that influences it and shapes it, adapting it to the world or person it's in. For example, the Rift Energy that I have in me is not the same Rift Energy that Horn would have in his body. The Rift Energy was pure but has since been altered and changed by a culmination of our genetics, our heritage, our environments, that kind of stuff. It's not physically possible for a random development of pure Rift Energy in this quantity. Someone would have to collect a large amount and shape it to do this."

"A beacon for what?" Emu asked.

Rina took a second to think.

"Well…I'm not entirely sure, let me preface it with that."

She turned back to the screen and began to speak.

"From what I know, and from what I've looked into these things are called End Charges." Rina explained. "They're designed to link up to a type of machine in order to power it, though they're named for their extremely destructive activations. And yes, that machine is made of the stolen materials from Earth. I'm…I'm not sure if it's exactly what it is, but I theorize it is as it is the most likely option that makes the most sense."

"What about where they were positioned?" Mrs. Venus asked.

Rina took a second to pull up an image of Earth with glowing dots all over it.

"I created a map of where the End Charges were positioned." Rina explained. "I took into account the positioning, the frequency they were being made, and the physical analysis of what we knew from Aqua Knight from fighting and making contact with him, but I…I found nothing of importance. I don't know what the positioning has to do with the machines it's supposed to link up to. I'd have to do a bit more research if I was going to give you a direct answer."

Mrs. Venus nodded. "I see. Well, are you up for it?"

Rina didn't hesitate to nod. "Yeah. I'll get to work right away."

"Good. That's all for now, guys."

The group began to separate after this, Horn going off somewhere while Fea started to message someone. Emu went to talk to Rina while Mrs. Venus stared off into the distance, deep in thought. Mars went to get Mrs. Venus a drink.

However, Forrest remained in his position against the wall. After a few seconds, he gripped his chest in the area where Aqua Knight hit him with his attack, his face briefly contorting in pain.

* * *

Master stared up at the machine that was being built. Ruby Knight was behind him, though she seemed to be uncomfortable as she looked down at her clipboard.

"How interesting." Master broke the silence between them out of nowhere.

Ruby Knight turned and stared at Master, unsure of what to say.

"They have defeated four out of five of my Knight Force. All that's left is you and me, the two strongest warriors I have available. I think we should pay them a visit."

"Master, I'm not sure that's the best-" Ruby Knight started.

"Nonsense. We will go to them. And we will break them. They will not get in my way anymore." The more Master spoke, the more it became obvious that he was furious.

Ruby Knight began feeling worried for her own safety at this point.

* * *

Far away, in a large room that would almost never be detected anywhere except in that building, there was a meeting of beings.

These beings were not alike in terms of shapes. Of the twelve of them, there was only one humanoid, the rest varying between avian, feline, canine, and some unidentifiable creatures. They all wore some kind of cloak on their body that covered all of their figure aside from the face, which was covered by a mask.

They all stood on platforms alike what was in the Rift Legends, but with stands hovering in front of them showing holographic screens and a circular metal platform in the center of all of them.

"…and so we are in agreement. The expedition by Andromeda's team will be funded at the full amount." The lone avian said.

"Now onto the next issue. It would appear that…Earth 385 has been targeted by a small group. They are currently being handled by Venus's team but it seems they are having issues." The lone canine figure said.

"Their reports show that they have arrested several members of the gang but have consistent trouble with them." A mass with eight legs and two heads added.

"Hmm…based upon the reports, these 'Knights' that have been arrested have kept quiet. We've gotten nothing of importance out of them."

"It would appear that this Earth has been targeted." The humanoid stated.

"Well what should we do about it? They seem to have it under control on their own." The feline said.

"It seems rather unfair to say that we shouldn't assist." A figure that was horse-like in shape but with a strange head stated their point of view.

"Why should we? The matters of one planet compared to an entire universe should be of no importance." The canine said.

"But we've just agreed to fund a hunt for the God Core. How is that matter more worthy of our immediate attention than this?" The avian asked.

"The God Core has eluded us for years. There we have definite evidence that it is within our grasp. This problem is minor compared to that and is just focused on a gang that has so far consisted of only four arrested members and two mentioned unknowns. A team of highly trained RiftRangers should be able to handle this no problem." A robotic-shaped mass said.

"One of them is inexperienced. How sure are we that this team can handle such-" the avian was interrupted by a beeping noise.

"It would appear that discussion time is over. Final votes?" the humanoid requested.

The twelve gave their respective votes. However, it seemed the avian, the horse-like figure, the humanoid, and a strange disc-like shape were outnumbered.

"And so it is decided. Venus's team will receive no help and we will move on as normal. Onto the next issue…"

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The five RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, and MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Minotaur Legend and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend was on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.


	9. Rift 9

Rift 9: The Parallel World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

 **A/N: For clarification, MasterRanger is not the sixth Ranger. She is the sixth RiftRanger to suit up, but she is not the sixth Ranger of the team. She is to the RiftRanger team what DekaMaster was to the DekaRangers or RyuCommander was to the KyuRangers**

* * *

Master stared up at the machine with a grin forming on his face.

"It is done. It is finally done and ready."

Ruby Knight stood behind him, looking up at the machine with a mixed look of awe and hesitation.

"Start it up." Master ordered. "Let's begin the final phase of Project X."

* * *

It had been at least a month since Aqua Knight had been arrested and almost nothing had happened.

"…yup. This confirms it." Mrs. Venus said.

In the infirmary of the base, Mrs. Venus put a wand-like device on the table next to her.

Forrest was on the bed in front of her, his shirt having been taken off to expose his scarred but muscled chest. He was having trouble breathing and was sweating heavily.

Mars was behind Mrs. Venus while Horn stood at the other side of Forrest's bed.

"So what's wrong with him?" Horn asked.

"He has an abnormally high amount of Rift Energy. The only person with a higher amount is Emu." Mrs. Venus explained.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Horn asked.

"No. Not every species can handle Rift Energy. But even those that can have a limit to how much they can have. It recharges up to a certain point, like a battery. But they can't exceed this point, it's extremely dangerous to their health." Mars explained.

"What does this mean for me?" Forrest turned to Mrs. Venus.

"Unless we can drain you of the excess Rift Energy, this could lead to some severe health problems beyond the exhaustion and sweating. Potentially even death if it gets too agitated." She explained.

Before anyone could do anything, an alarm went off.

Mrs. Venus and Mars glanced at each other before going to check what the source of the alarm was. Forrest started to put his shirt back on, denying Horn's help. They followed soon after.

* * *

Emu was currently sitting at the table in the break room with Rina, the two talking as they normally did.

"Let me tell you, this Earth cuisine is fantastic." Rina said to Emu while digging her fork into a slice of cake. "What's it called again?"

"Cake." Emu said.

"…Earth has Queke?" Rina suddenly froze while raising the fork to her mouth.

"Yeah, cake. It's a dessert, of sorts. Not very healthy, but a lot of delicious flavors." Emu quickly explained.

"That's not like Queke at all." Rina frowned in confusion.

"I don't think you're understanding that it's a different food." Emu pointed out with a grin on his face and a raised eyebrow.

"Next time, clarify that." Rina said.

"Would you have preferred seafood? Like salmon or shrimp?"

"Oh! Seafood! That's like fish and stuff, right?" Rina got excited all of a sudden as she pointed at Emu. "Yeah, Seaians love that kind of stuff. It's basically a delicacy to us."

Emu gave Rina a questioning look, resulting in a short moment of embarrassment from Rina. "Uh, sorry. I did some research into Earth culture so we could relate more in our conversations."

Emu gave a brief nod. "I get it. Sorry for making you uncomfortable for a bit there. I like that you did that though. What about Mizuri? Is there anything you'd-"

Before Emu could finish, the alarm began blaring loudly, catching their attention. Emu and Rina stood up in confusion and glanced at each other, starting to run out to check out what was happening. However, the door to the room opened with Fea rushing in. She barely managed to stop before she slammed into the table.

"You two. We have a situation. Hard to explain. Come on." She urged them before running back out of the room.

Emu got up to leave but Rina quickly scooped two more bits of cake into her mouth before following after their winged teammate.

Rina and Emu entered the main room of the base to find everyone else already there and staring at the screen.

They followed everyone else's looks only to have looks of confusion form upon their faces.

"What is this? Some kind of radar or sensor?" Rina asked.

"Is this a movie?" Emu curiously asked.

No one responded immediately until Mars explained what was on the screen. "Um…no. This is a live feed of Earth. After a Rift Guardian has been officially inducted into the ranks, their planet is put under surveillance."

"Yeah. They made that not long after my world was destroyed. Even then it's a really shitty and poorly done surveillance." Forrest added.

"Anyways." Mars interrupted. "We are watching Earth from the moon. And as you can see, there is something of interest in the background."

After his, Mrs. Venus pointed at the screen, referring to a large and slowly growing object in the background.

"What the hell is that thing?" Emu said aloud. "Can we zoom in?"

"No, but we can enhance the recording and get a closer look." Horn explained, getting a weird look from Emu. "We were just waiting for everyone else to get here."

When prompted, Mrs. Venus tapped a couple buttons on her Rift Closer, the feed focusing and enlarging the object in the background.

The group all froze and gained differing looks of confusion, worry, panic, and wonder.

On the screen, what vaguely resembled a planet was approaching Earth. It appeared to be entirely made of metal and mechanical. Across the front of it were two deep trenches that were cut in the shape of an X. The trenches were emitting a strange black light.

"No…Planet X." Mrs. Venus said, her voice and expression filled with panic.

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master and joined MasterRanger on the ground.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Mrs. Venus paced back and forth while biting down on her thumbnail.

The others were staring at her and watching her do this from various positions throughout the room. Emu, Rina, and Horn were at the table while Fea was sitting on the couch. Mars was standing next to the couch. Forrest was leaning against the wall.

"…she's been like this for about ten minutes now." Emu pointed out.

"What?! There's no way it's been that long!" Horn cried out.

"Ten Earth minutes, Horn." Rina quickly explained.

"Oh. Yeah. I think that's a fair guess."

Mrs. Venus paused after a bit then turned to stare at Emu. After a second, she moved her hand away from her mouth.

"Emu, in your interview, you mentioned you have family on Earth, correct?"

Emu blinked in confusion at this.

"Uh…yeah. I think I did. Why?"

"Emu. Go home. Talk to your family. That is an order." Mrs. Venus ordered. "Rina. Horn. Go with him. See if Earth has reacted to Planet X appearing. Or done…anything."

"Mrs. Venus, are you okay?" Fea asked, but was ignored.

"Fea. Forrest. You two are with me and Mars. We need to look into Planet X. Immediately."

"What is Planet X?" Horn asked.

"It's…don't worry about it right now. Just do it."

"But…my family? How do they tie into-"

"Just fucking do it!" Mrs. Venus yelled.

The collected group was surprised by this.

Emu didn't respond verbally, instead giving a nod and standing up from his chair. He then left the room. Rina and Horn quickly followed after him.

* * *

Emu, Rina, and Horn fell out of a Rift on the side of a street. The streets were empty, though it was obvious to Rina it was due to the fights between the Rift Guardians and the Knights across the world. It would make sense that no one felt safe enough to go outside if this kind of stuff happened.

Emu looked around briefly. After taking a second to orient himself, he looked to the right.

"I haven't been here in a while. I remember this place specifically, but I don't know if things have changed too much. Come on, it's a bit of a walk from here." He explained briefly then led the two down the street for a good distance.

It had taken a while and a lot of stairs, but the three had eventually reached a large complex of sorts. Rina was distracted due to being impressed, thus she missed that Emu had stopped until she ran into him. They were right in front of an arch of sorts, though it was more rectangular then circular.

"Oh. Sorry." He apologized. "Just…do you guys really want to come in with me? It could get a bit…dramatic, I guess."

"Ooh, I love drama" Horn gave a dumb grin.

Rina immediately smacked him on his arm and shut him up with a glare. She then turned back to Emu and comfortingly put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm here for you. You don't have to do anything you don't want to and we can leave right away if you want us to."

Emu contemplated what she said for a second but didn't say anything. He didn't take a step when he heard and saw a familiar line open in the middle of the air in front of him.

"A Rift? Here?" Horn gasped.

The Rift wasn't open for too long when a distinctly Knight-shaped figure fell and landed in a crouch in front of the three. Very slowly, it rose to its feet while looking up.

"I am Ruby Knight. I am here to complete Master's mission of destroying you three." Ruby Knight called out to them in a distinctly female voice.

Emu and Rina had no idea how to respond, simply looking at each other in shock.

Horn on the other hand had no qualms speaking up.

"Wait, so the red of your guys' team is a woman? That is awesome!"

* * *

Back at the base, Mrs. Venus anxiously bit her thumbnail as she watched Pegasus Legend fly towards Planet X through Werewolf Legend's eyes.

"Drink." Mars calmly handed her a cup, to which she practically snatched the object out of his hand and started chugging it down.

"…what do you think Planet X's return means?" Mars asked.

Mrs. Venus pulled the cup away from her lips soon enough.

"I don't know" was the muffled answer that was given as she wiped her lips. "But…nothing good considering what it did before it was destroyed it last time."

"Who knows?" Mars said. "Maybe it'll be different this time around."

Mrs. Venus didn't respond.

Forrest's voice suddenly came out of Mrs. Venus's Rift Closer. "We're approaching Planet X now, but there's been no reaction from it so far."

Mrs. Venus was quick to respond. "Keep going. If it reacts, get out of there immediately. Otherwise, keep approaching slowly and stealthily and land if you get close enough."

The two Rift Legends continued with their approach.

Mrs. Venus and her assistant watched in silence for a good bit of time until Mars turned to glance at Mrs. Venus. He seemed to be thinking deeply as he looked back.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"Not in the slightest. But I need to see…"

"See what?" Mars raised an eyebrow at this.

He didn't get an answer back.

* * *

Werewolf Legend 'ran' towards Planet X with Pegasus Legend in front of it, leading the way.

The two were quickly approaching Planet X, though there was nothing that seemed to be happening.

WerewolfRanger, from inside Werewolf Legend, stared ahead at the target as he ran at it.

He briefly paused to pound at his chest while coughing in pain. Thought that lasted a good bit of time before he continued after Pegasus Legend.

Eventually, the two were close enough to Planet X.

This was where things got serious. If Planet X hadn't reacted yet it would certainly do so after the two Rift Legends landed on it.

Pegasus Legend and Werewolf Legend reached the surface of the planet and hovered over it briefly before they landed.

They didn't land though. Instead, they fell right through the surface as if was not there at all.

"Gah!" WerewolfRanger cried out in surprise, briefly losing his balance while noticing Pegasus Legend spiral out of control for a bit longer than he had.

"Wait, what?!" PegasusRanger's voice came from over WerewolfRanger's Rift Closer.

They were inside of Planet X. But they saw nothing from inside except for a reflected view of the outside from the inside.

Pegasus Legend flew back through the surface then came right back, repeating this process repeatedly.

WerewolfRanger immediately went to call Mrs. Venus to report.

* * *

Emu stared at Ruby Knight, who simply stared back at him.

"…are you three simply going to stare at me all day or are we going to fight?" Ruby Knight demanded.

"…normally one of the others would've attacked by now. We can't really do anything unless you do something illegal." Horn pointed out.

Ruby Knight didn't have a response to that. She paused for a second then turned and gestured wildly at the air behind her.

"I opened an illegal Rift, does that count?"

"Not really. We can arrest you at maximum or give you a warning at minimum. Unless you physically attack us or do anything to warrant self defense we can't fight you." Rina informed the Knight.

"Can we at least take her in for questioning? She's one of the Knights." Emu pointed out to his teammates.

"Yeah, but we can't fight her." Horn shrugged.

"Hmm…he does raise a good point though." Rina nodded. "Ruby Knight. We're taking you into custody for questioning related to attacks from Gold, Silver, Dark, and Aqua Knights."

"You remember all of their names?" Horn blinked in surprise before Rina smacked him on the arm.

Ruby Knight sighed. "Do whatever you must."

The three RiftRangers were taken by surprise.

"Okay. That was a lot easier than I was expecting." Emu fished his Rift Closer out of his pocket and started walking towards Ruby Knight.

"I do not attack without provocation." Ruby Knight simply explained.

Just as Emu got relatively closer to Ruby Knight than his own teammates, the ground behind said teammates exploded.

Rina and Horn both cried out in pain as they fell flat on their faces.

Emu spun around only to find an unfamiliar alien being standing a few feet behind his friends with a gun pointed at the ground behind where they were standing.

"Master!" Ruby Knight called out to the being in surprise.

"Honestly, your honor is going to end up hindering you and causing more harm than good, Ruby Knight." Master lightly laughed.

"Master…I guess you're supposed to be someone important, right?" Emu asked.

"That would be a correct assumption. I assume that because I don't know who you are that you are unimportant, correct?" Master asked.

"…probably." Emu nodded.

"I suppose that doesn't really matter. Even the littlest death can cause a large revolution. And the smaller the death the easier it is to cover it up."

"If you honestly knew who I was on this planet your opinion might change." Emu called out.

"Really? And who might you be?" Master tilted his head.

"Well, my name is Shinji Mirai. But I go by Emu. Pleasure to meet you…sir." Emu awkwardly bowed.

"And who are you to this planet, 'Shinji Mirai'"

"To be honest, not anyone important anymore. I was famous, and probably still am, just not as much as I used to be."

"I see. And how might my opinion change based off that?"

"Oh. It won't. But you see, the friends of mine that you just attacked, Rina Ailan and Horn Beauts? Yeah, they're still conscious and I was stalling for time." Emu nonchalantly admitted.

"What?" Master said.

Emu looked down to see Rina and Horn had turned over and had pulled out their Rift Strikers to aim it at Master. Master didn't even look down when they pulled the triggers.

He stumbled backwards in response and surprise as the two got off the ground.

Emu nearly moved towards them but found himself jerking backwards when a jagged blade suddenly appeared where his neck was about to be.

"That was a dirty move." Ruby Knight growled from behind him.

"And you threatening me isn't?" Emu commented.

"You lost the right to judge me for whatever tricky move I make after what you just pulled." Ruby Knight pulled her blade away then shoved Emu to the side. "Draw your weapon." She ordered.

"Emu!" Rina called out and tried to run in to help.

"Don't worry about me, just take care of Master." Emu ordered.

"Just these two? You put too much faith in your friends." Master fixed his collar.

Rina and Horn pulled out their Rift Closers.

Emu readied his own.

"Open the Rift! Connect the Worlds!"

 **Rift Opened!**

 **Garuda!**

 **Kraken!**

 **Minotaur!**

 **World Connected!**

"The Thunder World. GarudaRanger."

 **Shock Lance!**

"The Water World! KrakenRanger!"

 **Wave Gun!**

"The Rock World! MinotaurRanger!"

 **Rock Drill!**

"Sekai Sentai!" KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger called out in unison while GarudaRanger just kept quiet.

"RiftRanger!" the blue and yellow RiftRangers called as they posed together. GarudaRanger simply readied his lance.

KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger attacked Master, leaving GarudaRanger and Ruby Knight to stare at each other.

"Now. Let's change the world. That's what you were gonna say, correct?" Ruby Knight tilted her head.

GarudaRanger paused, not expecting that.

"I know who you are, Shinji Mirai. I have studied you in case we fought. I am bound by my honor to ensure that I know who my opponent is and that they are not only worth fighting but that they deserve my honor to begin with." Ruby Knight calmly explained.

GarudaRanger paused as he thought of something.

"Alright, let's make a deal. Since you talk of honor, I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you have to tell me everything I want to know related to the Knights. If I lose, you do whatever you want to me." GarudaRanger said to Ruby Knight.

Ruby Knight seemed to be thinking hard on this for a few seconds. After a short while, she raised her head up higher and then leveled her weapon at GarudaRanger.

"What are the terms of victory and defeat?" she wanted to know.

GarudaRanger seemed to almost deflate in relief, as if he had been hoping for her to accept. "Yielding or death…though yielding seems more likely to have either of us get what we want."

"And what if I want death?" Ruby Knight asked.

"…you got me there." GarudaRanger nervously laughed.

"Very well. I do wish to inform you though, I don't kill those undeserving of it. You seem to be one of those fellows. So no worries. I'll make you yield soon enough."

Ruby Knight got into a ready stance.

GarudaRanger responded by getting in his own ready stance and drawing his Rift Striker in knife form.

Ruby Knight and GarudaRanger charged at one another.

* * *

MinotaurRanger charged at Master, who drew his sword calmly.

The Rock Drill found itself being driven towards Master's chest, though it was deflected by Master's sword. Master's gun was then aimed at MinotaurRanger's head and then fired, striking the taller and physically stronger RiftRanger across the forehead.

As MinotaurRanger stumbled backwards, KrakenRanger slid across the ground nearby, firing upwards to strike Master. One attack did hit and caught hum by surprise, but his guard was put up immediately. This allowed him to strike at the bullet and knock it aside, though he didn't miss KrakenRanger's swinging her legs around to sweep his legs out from under him.

KrakenRanger got to her knees and aimed her Wave Gun downwards at Master, who in turn aimed his gun right down the barrel of the Wave Gun. The two blasts made contact and a slight raising of the Master's gun upwards along with a quick tug of the trigger allowed Master to shoot KrakenRanger right in her face.

"GAH!" KrakenRanger fell backwards.

Master quickly got to his feet and dragged his gun along his sword.

MinotaurRanger rushed at Master to tackle him.

Master quickly stepped out of the way and jabbed his sword forward towards MinotaurRanger's stomach. He narrowly ducked his head out of the way of a blast from KrakenRanger, who herself had aimed so that the blast missed MinotaurRanger just narrowly.

MinotaurRanger ended up coming to a grinding halt as the blade met his side and caused a surprising amount of damage. Master then kicked MinotaurRanger and sent him towards KrakenRanger.

KrakenRanger quickly got up and jumped out of the way but failed to dodge the bullet Master had sent to her stomach. In the pause that had caused, Master was suddenly in front of her and slashing across her chest harshly.

Master spun around and slammed his foot into MinotaurRanger's gut to send him falling to the ground.

After this, the warrior got to his feet and held down the trigger of his gun while dragging his blade across the front, the energy that was supposed to be shooting out instead coating the blade.

He held up his arm as Kraken and MinotaurRanger got to their feet.

Master then slashed, a wave of energy shooting out to strike the two.

They exploded very soon afterwards.

* * *

Ruby Knight stabbed forward with her blade only for GarudaRanger to hold out his dagger so Ruby Knight's blade was deflected to run along that instead of running through him. The Shock Lance was then driven towards her stomach.

Ruby Knight was quick to pivot on her foot, spinning her body around to avoid getting hit.

Using this momentum, the female of the two lashed her left leg out with a kick to her opponents head, though she missed when he ducked. She didn't miss when her sword swung downwards to hit him across his shoulder.

However, he used this attack to his own advantage, recovering from his fall backwards by transitioning into a flip backwards where he harshly slammed his foot into her chin.

Ruby Knight's head snapped upwards as a result, sending her stumbling backwards. GarudaRanger landed on his feet and widely swung his lance around. Ruby Knight got her bearings back in time to dive forward so she rolled under the swing. She came back up to drive her knee into his stomach.

As GarudaRanger practically crumpled around the attack, Ruby Knight slammed the hilt of her sword into his helmet then swung her sword around in the opposite direction to strike him across the chest and stomach.

GarudaRanger fell backwards but used his wings to get some distance between himself and his opponent.

After a second, he thrust his lance forward and pulled the trigger, lightning shooting out of it and towards Ruby Knight. Ruby Knight attempted to dodge, but she did get hit, resulting in an electrocution that caused her to drop her weapon.

However, for a brief second, there was a flash of silver from where Emu's eyes were underneath the GarudaRanger helmet. No one noticed.

GarudaRanger quickly flapped his wings and sent himself flying towards Ruby Knight while readying his Shock Lance.

Ruby Knight saw this and forced herself to fall backwards onto her back.

GarudaRanger stabbed downwards with his weapon, though it was halted before it could reach his opponents head as she brought her legs up around the lance and clamped her hands around the blade. GarudaRanger seemed to freeze as if realizing where he was or what just happened.

He was distracted enough for Ruby Knight to push the lance to the side so it missed her and then kick GarudaRanger in the stomach to get him off of her. Her hand picked up her sword as she stood up, the blade of the weapon quickly finding itself buried in GarudaRanger's neck and then dragged downwards harshly.

GarudaRanger grunted in pain as he fell backwards. However, he brought his hand up to reveal he was still clutching his Rift Striker, though it was converted to gun mode. The energy bullets that fired from it before GarudaRanger hit the ground struck Ruby Knight all across her front and sent her falling to the ground while being electrocuted by each shot.

Upon hitting the ground, GarudaRanger pulled out his Rift Closer and pressed the button, intent on calling for backup.

"Mrs. Venus-" he started, only to notice Ruby Knight was getting up, albeit having a bit of trouble. "…help." He simply said before hanging up to prepare for more fighting.

GarudaRanger used his wings to get away as Ruby Knight dove at him. He didn't manage to get out of the way in time as she reached him, landing on top of him and wrapping her arms around him so he couldn't get away.

Unused to the extra weight involved in something he already wasn't too good at, GarudaRanger struggled to adjust and the two quickly fell to the ground with Ruby Knight on top. She straddled his stomach and ripped his Rift Striker from his hand, changing it to knife form and holding it over his neck.

"Yield." Was all she ordered.

GarudaRanger froze, unsure of what he could do. He didn't know if it was possible for the Rift Striker to cut through his suit and also his throat, and while he wasn't afraid of risking it, Rina and everyone else wouldn't be too happy if he didn't at least try to survive. And he couldn't really die on family property.

So he did what he could. Stall.

"…Wow. You're really impressive." He said.

"That's not yielding." Ruby Knight replied.

"Well, I'm just saying."

"Yield." Ruby Knight repeated.

"I can't make small talk? I move, you slit my suit's throat, and potentially my own throat. Like you said, you don't attack without provocation and I'm not gonna provoke you. So we're at a stalemate because I really don't feel like yielding."

"And if I just knock you unconscious?" Ruby Knight asked.

"Technically, that's not yielding. You need verbal confirmation to know I yielded. Which isn't happening."

"You think you can stall for time until I grow bored, do you?" Ruby Knight tilted her head downwards in a manner that seemed to be indicating disbelief.

"Not much else I can really do." GarudaRanger shrugged, only for the blade to dig deeper into his throat.

The two remained in this stalemate for a few seconds of silence.

"…you know, it's kind of hard to breathe when you sit on my stomach like that." GarudaRanger pointed out.

"Would you prefer I move back and sit on your…reproductive organs?" Ruby Knight incredulously asked.

"No-NO!" GarudaRanger quickly realized what she was insinuating. "I'm just saying that it's not exactly honorable to suffocate your opponent."

"You won't suffocate."

"How do you know?"

"Do you ever stop talking, aside from when you're in combat?"

"Not this much. I only do this much when I'm trying to flirt or stalling for time. Have fun finding out which one this instance is."

Ruby Knight didn't respond to that, instead moving on.

"Perhaps I should go ahead and slit your throat right now."

GarudaRanger didn't get a chance to respond when a third voice cut in.

"Please do. I can't stand him either." What sounded like WerewolfRanger said from behind Ruby Knight a second before a familiar white figure wrapped their arms around Ruby Knight. Ruby Knight was gone a second later, carried into the air by what appeared to be PegasusRanger.

GarudaRanger was dragged to his feet by WerewolfRanger.

"It astounds me just how absurd a situation you found yourself in." the older Rift Guardian commented.

"I've been in weirder." GarudaRanger simply shrugged. "How long were you watching for?"

"Mrs. Venus told us to come help and we came here immediately. We've been here since you called her impressive."

"That long, huh? You could've helped."

Ruby Knight crashed to the ground nearby. PegasusRanger gently landed next to her friends.

"Not as funny." She commented as she pulled her Rift Closer off her belt. However, she was struck in the chest not too long after.

Master walked in from the side with his gun held up, having shot her. "Newcomers. Eh, I'm growing a bit bored of this." He went over to Ruby Knight and lifted her up by the back of her collar.

GarudaRanger paused and turned towards KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger, finding them on the ground.

"Rina! Horn!" he ran towards them.

WerewolfRanger pulled out his Rift Striker and ran at Master.

"Oh. Okay." Master set Ruby Knight down then readied himself for a fight.

WerewolfRanger jumped up to pounce on Master, stabbing downwards with his dagger.

Master ducked back to dodge while lashing out with a punch to strike WerewolfRanger in his stomach.

WerewolfRanger fell to the ground when Master stepped aside. Master kicked WerewolfRanger in the stomach to send him rolling across the ground.

Master stepped aside as an arrow flew past him courtesy of PegasusRanger. He aimed his gun at her then shot her in the chest, stomach, then head.

WerewolfRanger got to his feet then ran at Master again.

Master proceeded to move out of the way of every one of WerewolfRanger's attacks, occasionally blocking some attacks but not once attacking him back.

Eventually, Master used his hand to block a punch. Master slammed his palm into WerewolfRanger's chest.

"Goodbye." A wave of energy shot out of Master's hand and into the RiftRanger's body.

Master retrieved his hand, WerewolfRanger gripping where Master had pumped energy into him. The suit faded away a second later to reveal Forrest, who grunted in pain as he fell down to his knees.

"Forrest!" PegasusRanger yelled out before trying to run towards him.

Master picked Ruby Knight back up and opened a Rift, falling into it to leave the group behind.

PegasusRanger moved to her friends side as her suit dissolved.

"Forrest, what's wrong?!" She yelled.

Emu helped Rina walk towards their injured friend, Horn groaning as he walked beside them.

"What happened?" Emu demanded as he and Rina dropped to their knees next to Forrest.

"I don't know! He did something that hurt Forrest!" Fea explained.

Rina held her Rift Closer over Forrest's body to scan him.

"There's…there's excess Rift Energy in his body? What?"

"Mrs. Venus said something about excess energy in his body" Horn explained.

Rina thought about it for a moment. "It looks like the excess Rift Energy has been tampered with. That explains it. He must have done something to the excess energy in Forrest's body."

"What can we do to help him?" Emu asked. "Can I drain him or something?"

Fea shook her head. "No, I don't think that's how it works!"

"We have to do something!" Horn shouted.

"His heart rate is slowing!" Rina revealed.

Forrest's breathing appeared to slow to a stop.

Emu quickly placed his hands over Forrest's chest and started pushing downwards repeatedly. After a while of this, he tilted Forrest's head back, pinched his nose, then covered Forrest's mouth with his own while blowing.

"Emu, what are you doing?!" Rina pushed him off.

"CPR! I don't know if it'll work but I have to try!" he pushed her away then went back to chest compressions and breathing into Forrest's mouth.

"Forrest! Forrest! Hey! Stay with me! Forrest!" Emu yelled.

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The five RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, and MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu glowed red with lightning around him.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the five were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Minotaur Legend and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend was on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.


	10. Rift 10

Rift 10: The Ruined World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

 **A/N: I missed last weeks chapter because I was on vacation. As such, I posted the chapter I missed along with the one after it to make up for it.** **This is the first one of the two that I posted.**

* * *

"Is he gonna be okay?" Emu couldn't take his eyes off of Forrest.

In the infirmary of the base, Forrest laid on a table with his chest exposed and his body connected to several machines.

His breathing was slow and labored, and the machine made it clear his heart was beating slowly.

Beside the bed was Mrs. Venus and Emu, while Horn, Fea, and Rina were off to the side in waiting, Rina being on her Rift Closer with a focused expression. Mars was a few feet behind Mrs. Venus.

"You seem to care a bit too much." Mrs. Venus commented.

Emu narrowed his eyes and looked at Mrs. Venus. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"He's been rude and cruel to you for as long as you've known each other and yet you care the most out of anyone. I don't see why."

"I don't care if he's been a massive dick to me. I still don't want him to die."

Mrs. Venus nodded. "Understandable. We need to drain that excess Rift Energy out of him. He won't last long otherwise."

"How exactly are we supposed to do that?" Horn spoke up.

"Yeah, it's not like any of us can do that without help." Fea pointed out.

"We can't do it anyways. Whatever Master did to it rendered us unable to remove it from his body using any regular means." Mrs. Venus crossed her arms.

Emu thought about it for a moment. "Can Master undo what he did?"

Mrs. Venus shrugged. "Possibly. Though we have no way to know where he went."

The group was silent as this information sunk in.

"…Rina. Do the End Charges relate to Planet X in any way?" Mars decided to speak up.

The group turned to look at him in confusion.

"What does that have to do with this?" Fea demanded.

"Just wait. Do they?" Mars crossed his arms.

Rina was still silent as she typed some things into her Rift Closer.

"Well…they're supposed to link up to something and function as what is essentially a beacon. So I suppose that since Planet X is headed right towards Earth that it's being attracted to the End Charges. But I don't know for sure. I'll have to look into it."

"Either way. There's your lead. If this is all connected like you all have been trying to connect it, then supposedly Master and the Knights are related to Planet X. So we just need to find a way to interfere with Planet X to get their attention again." Mars reasoned.

The group was once again quiet as they thought over this plan.

"Okay, you have a good idea. But what if it falls through? We can't risk this in the instance that Planet X isn't related to this at all." Mrs. Venus pointed out.

"Mrs. Venus. What is Planet X?" Rina asked. "I can't find anything on it."

Mrs. Venus froze as she stared at a wall, though it was obvious she wasn't focused on it.

"It's…it's nothing."

"Hey, we need to know what we're up against here." Horn said.

"Yeah, what is it?" Fea pestered.

"What it is isn't-" Mrs. Venus started before Emu slammed his hand down on an empty table.

"JUST FUCKING TELL US!" Emu yelled.

Dead silence came across the room as everyone stared in shock at Emu, having nowhere near expected him to do that.

Emu didn't seem to notice as he looked up at Mrs. Venus, who stared back with trepidation in her eyes.

"Whatever Master, and Ruby Knight, and all of those other Knight guys are doing are obviously related to Planet X." Emu started. "And because of them, Forrest is lying right there on that table, dying. If we don't know what we're up against, we can't save him. And we can't know if you don't **tell us**." He growled. He flicked his wrist and then cradled the hand he slammed on the table but kept his glare on Mrs. Venus.

"So I'll ask. What. The hell. Is Planet X?"

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master and joined MasterRanger on the ground.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Mrs. Venus blankly stared at the wall while biting down on her thumbnail. Horn stood across from her on the other end of the table while Rina was sitting down. Fea was standing against one of the other ends of the table while Mars stood behind Mrs. Venus. Emu stared at the screen, which was still showing Planet X.

"…where should I start?" Mrs. Venus murmured to herself.

Mars comfortingly patted her on the back. "Take your time."

Emu winced at hearing this, his face having a look of regret.

Mrs. Venus sighed.

"…The Rift Guardians have been around for billions of Earth years. The current age of the universe is double the amount of time the Rift Guardians have existed. Given how old the universe is, that's saying a lot. Anyways…the things this force has seen over the years…the assortment of destruction, terror, and pain…anyone who lived long enough to experience it all would've been driven mad a long time ago. We release a lot of these incidents to the public based on the classification of the incident. The lower rankings are uncensored and unfiltered. Those in the middle have a few details censored or erased but still released. The worst ones are completely hidden away. We never talk about them. The list is small, barely even a page long. And that page is filled with some of the worst incidents that this universe has ever seen. Things that should never, ever be revealed to the public no matter what. But I suppose we shouldn't be focusing on that, should we?" she picked up her cup and sipped from it.

When she pulled it away, she wiped her lips then started speaking as she set the cup down.

"Planet X was…one incident on this page. It first came to be a very, very long time ago. A scientist proposed a weapon. One that could effectively end any war without taking a life. He spent his whole life working on something that could create peace and harmony. He never did finish it before his life ended, and to this day no one knows how the weapon was originally supposed to work or how the end product was supposed to be."

Fea gently sat down at the table with a concerned look on her face.

"And this was…Planet X?"

"No. It wasn't. Not yet. The first instance it was used was under 30 million years later. A warlord desiring the conquest of the known universe got his hands on the plan and the nearly completed weapon. It's a mystery how, but that's not likely to be solved at any time." Mrs. Venus shrugged. "The weapon and plans were studied by scientists and mechanics who worked for the warlord. And he had them add his own twist to it. The weapon was no longer made for peace and harmony. It was instead created to cause the war and end it in one fell swoop. Thankfully, he never got to use it beyond a test at a quarter power. In its testing stage it destroyed an entire solar system, including the planet the warlord and his team were on to observe it, which was supposedly a 'safe distance away'" Mrs. Venus rolled her eyes while doing air quotes.

"The Rift Guardians investigated and took the weapon away. It remained that way until approximately 1000 years ago. Then someone else obtained it." Mrs. Venus appeared to be lightly shaking.

"At some point in your lives as Rift Guardians, you will likely have an experience that you will never forget. Some kind of massive destruction event that leaves you speechless. If you're unlucky enough, you'll encounter one such as what happened to me. Planet X was taken by a monster. A monster by the standards of most living things. They did unspeakable things using this weapon. Things that should not have been physically or even theoretically possible, having reworked the destructive abilities of the weapon in ways no one could have possibly imagined. Galaxies were destroyed. Trillions upon trillions of lives were lost forever. No one knows why that monster did what they did. All they can do is remember what they did. Those that were alive that is. The Rift Guardians worked with other forces and eventually managed to beat them. The incident was covered up. I was an intern at that time. The things I've seen and experienced are…things that I have sworn to never speak about. This is just the bare minimum that I will speak about. The weapon has been labelled Planet X. And it was thought to be destroyed and any records of it lost to history aside from the records the Rift Guardians keep. The fact that it's back…terrifies me…"

No one said anything.

No one knew what to say.

No one had expected that to be the explanation given as to what Planet X was.

It was complete silence for a few minutes as everyone let this sink in and try to find something to say.

Rina was the first to break the silence.

"Did…Did Planet X run on Rift Energy?"

Mrs. Venus looked towards Rina.

"I don't…believe so, why?"

She didn't get an answer as Rina stood up while thinking. "…Fea, come with me. I'm going to do a bit of work on this and I need your help with something." Rina walked off.

"Oh. Okay." Fea followed after Rina.

The group was quiet for a few seconds until Mrs. Venus looked at Emu. "Emu. Did you go see your family?"

"I didn't get a chance to. We were attacked." Emu quickly explained.

Mrs. Venus nodded and then stood up. "Come on. We're going down to Earth and you're going to see your family. Horn, you're with us too."

* * *

Ruby Knight groaned in pain as she held the ice pack over her forearm. She was currently back at the area she worked at with Master. She was in a room where she was trying to treat her injuries, having removed all of her armor to reveal her dark brown skin under what was essentially a matching black set of tank top and leggings.

After ensuring the ice pack was sticking to her arm, she looked up to the mirror in front of her, making eye contact with her reflection.

Her short brown hair went down to her cheeks and her face had a scar running from her right cheek to her left temple. Her pale red eyes scanned over her face one last time to ensure there were no cuts or injuries that needed treating as well. After ensuring that her face was fine, she gave a brief nod and picked up a cloth she had on the counter, putting it on to reveal it was essentially a turtleneck.

She tapped a spot on her waist. Her leggings and shirt suddenly lit up in a cyan circuit design as it tightened around her skin.

While this happened, she reached over to her tablet, which was lying on a table nearby, and pulled a small device off of the side before placing it in a pouch hidden at the side of her waist.

After this, she began putting her armor back on, lightly wincing and grunting in pain as she fastened her armor in place.

After she had finished putting on her leg armor and was in the process of putting her upper body armor on, the door opened behind her with Master walking in.

"Pardon the intrusion." Master simply said. "We need to get moving."

Ruby Knight turned to look at him as she locked her belt in place. "What's wrong?"

"They're back on Earth. This time, we're going to end them."

Ruby Knight sighed as she finished putting on her arm armor. "Are you positive, Master?"

"Yes. Did you not have a duel you wanted to finish?" Master raised an eyebrow.

Ruby Knight paused then turned to glare at Master.

"…very well." She picked up her helmet and put it on her head. "Let's get going, then." She tapped the side of her helmet, her face being covered by a black visor and the bottom of her helmet attaching to her turtleneck to fasten in place.

* * *

Emu fell through the Rift, landing harshly on the ground.

Mrs. Venus came through after him with Horn following after her.

Emu winced as he stood up and massaged his wrist, which he had landed on.

"No need to be so harsh about it." He said to Mrs. Venus, though she just pushed him by the shoulder then pointed towards the side.

"I don't want to hear it. Stop stalling and go see your family."

Emu swallowed and seemed to be hesitating.

"I…I don't know if I can. I have reasons why I can't do it and…" he trailed off when Horn placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey…take it at your own pace. It's okay. I got you, bud." He patted him gently on his back.

Mrs. Venus watched but said nothing.

Emu took a deep breath but nodded and kept walking.

Horn and Mrs. Venus trailed behind him, though Horn was cautious around Mrs. Venus, as if he was prepared to protect Emu from her if need be.

It became clear to Emu that he was as far as he had made it last time. And he had made it farther than before. After a bit more walking, he paused as he reached a building. A nostalgic look came across his face, though he didn't move, instead simply staring.

Mrs. Venus frowned, but Horn intervened before she could try to do anything.

Emu eventually did start moving again. He walked up the steps and into the open doorway. But he froze again. He opened his mouth to call out to someone or something, and he found himself unable to speak.

Horn turned to Mrs. Venus and spoke in a gentle tone. "Let him do it on his own. You shouldn't force him."

"He may not have a chance if he goes at his own pace." Mrs. Venus murmured, gaining a look of exasperation from Horn.

Emu's lower lip quivered as he tried to call out. He didn't.

His feet slowly moved backwards, moving as if he was backing away and about to turn and run.

Anything Mrs. Venus was about to say or do was stopped in its tracks when a Rift opened up behind her and Horn, gaining her attention.

She quickly spun around only to find two figures emerging from the Rift, Master and Ruby Knight, though Ruby Knight appeared to be a tad bit sluggish in her movements.

"Hello again." Master greeted.

"You." Horn growled.

"Me." Master simply waved.

"We finally meet, huh? My subordinate is dying because of you." Mrs. Venus said to Master.

"…I suppose so. You must be the one leading this team. I must say, I've watched your fight against Aqua Knight, but I only managed to catch it after you transformed. You're very impressive. But unfortunately that impressiveness was included with beating a member of my Knight Force. So prepare for my retribution." Master drew his sword, Mrs. Venus immediately responding with drawing her sleeve back and Horn getting ready.

Master looked past them at Emu. "And you have unfinished business with Ruby Knight."

"Yeah, sure. Single me out." Emu sighed as he pulled out his Rift Closer.

"Don't worry. We'll make this quick." Master dashed towards Mrs. Venus after saying that.

 **Kitsune! World Connected!**

 **Master Staff!**

MasterRanger raised up her staff to block his attack.

Master jumped back, but was followed by MasterRanger.

"Connect the Worlds!" Horn dashed after them.

 **Minotaur! World Connected!**

Ruby Knight and Emu were left alone once again.

"We really need to stop meeting like this. People are going to get the wrong idea" Emu joked.

Ruby Knight just stared at him, her emotions being unable to be read through her visor.

"…what do you mean?" her head tilted to the side slightly.

Emu found himself surprised by her questioning of what was supposed to be a throwaway joke that she quite obviously didn't get.

"What do you mean: 'what do you mean?'"

"We're supposed to be fighting each other. How else are we supposed to be meeting and who would be getting the wrong idea?" Ruby Knight questioned.

"It's…it's a joke."

"How is that supposed to be funny?"

Emu just stared at her. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out and he just closed his mouth again.

"…so we're dueling still, right?"

"Indeed." Ruby Knight readied her sword as if nothing had just happened.

Emu just clicked open his Rift Closer and held it out to the side to transform. "Open the Rift."

 **Rift Opened!**

"Connect the Worlds."

 **Garuda! World Connected!**

 **Shock Lance!**

"GarudaRanger." GarudaRanger brandished his Shock Lance but held up his Rift Closer. "Before we start though, may I request a change in location?"

"Of course." Ruby Knight nodded. "As long as you don't plan on tricking me, I am willing to accept."

GarudaRanger carefully walked towards Ruby Knight until he was a couple of feet away from her. He held out his Rift Closer and pressed the button, opening a Rift to a different location. The two stepped into the opposite sides of the Rift.

They stepped out of it to find themselves near a cliff that dropped off into a quarry.

The two faced each other as the Rift closed.

"What is this place?" Ruby Knight aimed her sword at him.

"A quarry I visited when I was a kid. It's secluded enough where we won't be bothered but there's enough space for us to go all out." GarudaRanger shouldered his lance.

"Very well. Let's begin."

And with that, Ruby Knight lunged at GarudaRanger while stabbing forward.

GarudaRanger deflected the attack with his Shock Lance then lashed out with a kick. When she ducked back and fell out of range for his kick, she wasn't far enough out of range to receive his lance to her stomach. The electric shock surged into her body after GarudaRanger pulled the trigger.

The undersuit she was wearing began to glitch and spark a little, resulting in Ruby Knight calling out in pain and yelping while she was shocked and burned.

GarudaRanger took notice and pulled his lance back quickly while reaching out to grab her as she fell.

"Shit!" he swore when she crashed into the ground.

The undersuit she had on stopped sparking and glowed for a few seconds before it returned to normal.

Ruby Knight panted and grabbed at the arm she had stuck an ice pack to.

"Hey, are you alright?" GarudaRanger gently asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She responded by pulling his arm off of her.

"Why do you care? I'm you're enemy." She growled.

"And? That doesn't mean I can't care." GarudaRanger stood back up. "You haven't actually done anything that bad…that I know of at least."

"It's a duel to the death." Her voice was harsh and to the point.

"Or until we yield. And if I'm going to kill you, it's going to be quick and painless. Not…like that." GarudaRanger admitted.

"This suit takes into account any injuries or pain I'm feeling and amplifies padding or protection to any injured areas. You short-circuited it. That's not going to kill me." Ruby Knight simply explained. "Even so, why wouldn't you use that to kill me? How do you know it's not painless?"

"I didn't know what it is. And I wasn't going to take that chance. Get upset at me if you like but I don't care. I'm going to follow my ideals even in situations like this."

Ruby Knight did not have a response to what she had just heard. Her visor did not betray whatever emotion she had to GarudaRanger either.

Instead, she pushed herself up, causing GarudaRanger to back up and allow her to stand.

Ruby Knight picked her sword up off the ground but didn't ready it as she stood up and stared at GarudaRanger, who simply made what was close enough to eye contact.

She made what was akin to a sighing noise before charging at him.

* * *

"And that's all you know?" Rina asked.

Fea nodded from Rina's bed.

Rina typed something into what looked to be a computer fixed at the desk next to her bed.

"Yup. Sorry. That's all Forrest and I got from Planet X when we visited." Fea shivered. "Hey, why is your room so cold?"

"Mizuri, where I was born and raised, is a planet of ice and water. This isn't that bad for me, but I can turn up the heat if you need to."

"No, I should probably go help out with whatever's happening. I'll tell Mrs. Venus you got caught up and couldn't help."

"Okay, thanks." Rina said as Fea exited through a Rift.

Rina continued to type at her computer for a bit after Fea left, a determined look on her face.

* * *

MinotaurRanger fell to the ground harshly. Master brought back his sword and readied it as MasterRanger leapt over MinotaurRanger while slamming her weapon downwards.

The two weapons clashed briefly until Master stepped back to let the weapon fall to the ground. However, when her weapon fell, MasterRanger was quick to step forward and pivot on her foot to spin around.

Master ducked down to avoid the swing of the Master Staff above his head. His gun found itself aimed at MasterRanger's stomach.

However, the blast he fired at her was avoided as she dropped her weapon then jumped upwards, so the attack soared under her. She flipped forward and extended her leg outwards so her heel slammed into his helmet.

Master fell onto his front and quickly rolled to the side to avoid any further attacks coming his way. As he got onto one knee, he nonchalantly aimed to the side and fired to hit MinotaurRanger in the gut to keep him from intervening for a bit longer.

Master rose to his feet and raised up his sword to defend himself from an attack to his side from the Master Staff. However, MasterRanger pulled the weapon back then converted it to its gun mode. Master shot at the bolt that MasterRanger fired at him, only for an explosion to result from that, with the explosion larger on MasterRanger's side.

The two Masters were knocked off their feet and onto their backs.

MasterRanger was quick to flip off the ground into a crouched position.

Master calmly sat up while dragging the front of his gun across his sword to charge up the blade.

"Mrs. Venus!" MinotaurRanger called.

MasterRanger turned to him, only to end up catching the Rock Drill.

"Thanks!" she yelled back before charging at Master. Master got up just as fast while holding out his energized weapon.

MasterRanger jumped up and stabbed downwards with the spinning drill in her hand, her weapon deflected by the sword Master wielded.

Master kicked forward and added in a punch. His target moved out of the way of the first attack then stepped forward while ducking under the punch. The drill in her hand was driven into Master's stomach.

"GAH!" Master cried out in pain at this, unable to grab the weapon as it was a spinning drill that had quickly buried into his stomach and past his armor.

MasterRanger pulled back and kicked Master right where she had stabbed him. Master took the chance after she pulled the weapon out to strike her across her chest with his own sword.

As Master fell backwards, he slashed again so a wave of energy shot out and struck MasterRanger again across her chest.

MasterRanger fell onto one knee as Master hit the ground.

"Well…you're certainly stronger than I was expecting." Master chuckled.

"Who the hell are you?" MasterRanger demanded.

Master sat up. "That doesn't really matter. But perhaps it'd be best you got your team off of this planet as fast as you can." Master readied his sword.

MasterRanger perked up. "What do you mean?"

Master didn't answer as he slashed in midair and formed a Rift.

He got back to his feet as several Peasants fell out of the Rift. Master pulled a small orb off the side of his belt and tossed it into the air after pressing a button on it.

The orb dissolved with the energy covering the Peasants.

MasterRanger gave an exasperated sigh as the Peasants started growing.

"Wait! Fix my friend!" MinotaurRanger ran after Master, though he quickly left through a Rift to escape.

MasterRanger stood up and activated her Rift Closer.

"Rift Legend, come here." She ordered.

 **Kitsune! Legend!**

"I'll take care of these real quick. Horn, go help Emu." MasterRanger ordered.

"But it's a duel!" MinotaurRanger responded.

"Just make sure he doesn't die!" she yelled back while stepping into a Rift.

Kitsune Legend started moving seconds later and then started shifting around.

 **Ready! Rift Mega!**

MinotaurRanger sighed and turned around to go find GarudaRanger.

"…wait, where did they go?"

* * *

Ruby Knight once again fell down in pain, panting heavily as she gripped her shoulder. She was near the edge of the cliff.

GarudaRanger stood in front of her, pulling back his lance while panting.

"I'm…not…done yet." She panted while struggling to her feet with the use of her sword.

"You're not going to be able to go on much longer. I can-" GarudaRanger started.

"Shut it." Ruby Knight ordered. "I'm…not gonna yield…"

"I'm not asking you to yield, I'm asking you to get medical attention before you get hurt in ways that you can't fix easily." GarudaRanger snapped.

"You really care?" Ruby Knight said.

GarudaRanger noticed the hint of disbelief in her voice.

"…I suppose you would. You do need me alive for information." She panted.

GarudaRanger didn't say anything to confirm or deny that that was what he meant.

"But I'm not yielding…not yet." Ruby Knight held out her sword.

"Can't we just call this even? This is really going too far."

"No. Either you die…or you yield…the only way I'm losing is dying." She stepped towards him shakily. "So raise up your weapon and-" she raised her voice in an attempt to threaten him.

"I yield."

Ruby Knight froze.

"You…you what?"

GarudaRanger tossed his Shock Lance to the ground.

"You win. I can't bring myself to fight anymore."

"W-what? After…after all of that…you…you…" she stammered, unable to comprehend or understand what just happened. She began stumbling in place, but she was unaware of how unsafe it was to be doing that near the edge of a cliff.

"Hey, watch where you're stepping." GarudaRanger tried to warn her.

"I…I…I!" she inadvertently stepped in the wrong place, her foot falling over the edge and the rest of her body following soon after.

"NO!" Ruby Knight heard GarudaRanger yell.

Ruby Knight began her fall towards the distant ground. It became apparent she wasn't going to survive the impact.

 _…this is how it ends…how…unceremonious and…disappointing…_

She was staring straight up into the sky, and as such was blinded by the light of the nearby sun. However, she could vaguely make out movement from the edge she just fell off of.

 _…I don't want to die yet…it's not…honorable enough…I'm not honorable enough…there's still so much that I want to…wait._

Ruby Knight noticed the growing figure that was blocking out the sun as it quickly approached.

"OOF!"

The figure slammed into her from above harshly, knocking all of the air out of her lungs. Ruby Knight wasn't sure how she got down from the ground after that, as everything she saw was a blur of colors and movement, but after being set down on the ground, she noticed her savior's wings folding back up into their default stationary position.

"…seriously, are you okay?" GarudaRanger's voice came into focus.

Ruby Knight turned her head towards GarudaRanger, who had taken his helmet off to reveal Emu's worried face.

"You…you saved me." Ruby Knight realized.

"Well. Yeah." Emu stood up and rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly.

"My death would've been quick and painless from that height, albeit very gruesome. Would you not have been okay with that?" Ruby Knight asked.

"No." Emu immediately responded. "I never wanted you to die. Ever."

Ruby Knight stared at him. "You…but you said…"

"I know what I said. I will admit, I'm not as honorable as I seem. I do lie from time to time. Besides. I already yielded. It wouldn't make sense to let you die after the duel was over."

Ruby Knight stared at Emu's face, focused on him as she appeared to be deep in thought.

She noticed his slightly worried and nervous expression. And she made a decision.

Ruby Knight reached up to her helmet and tapped the side again, her helmet unfastening and her visor retracting to reveal her face. She pulled her helmet off her head, mirroring Emu's current outfit.

"My name is Rue Cyber. I am a Vlayd of the planet Krymsun. And I request your help." Rue scowled as she looked up at Emu.

"…I am Shinji Mirai, a human from Earth. I accept." Emu said.

"You would accept just like that?" Rue gave Emu a look of confusion along with the tone of disbelief she had been using often throughout their interactions.

"Well…I lost. I have to do whatever you want, so I couldn't refuse even if I wanted to."

"…your tone implies…a desire to have done it either way." Rue pointed out.

Emu didn't give a response to that, instead crouching down on one knee in front of Rue.

"What would you have me do?" Emu requested.

Rue stared at him with a look of disbelief and confusion before she gave a quiet nod and a small grin formed on her face. Rue unfastened her belt then tossed it to the side before pulling something out of a hidden pocket at the side of her waist.

"You said you would do whatever I want. And I want to answer your questions." Rue said. "But we lack the time for that. So here, take this. This contains all of the data on Project X." she held out the device.

Emu looked down at her palm and reached out to gently take the device from her, looking over every side of it. He looked back up at her.

"What is Project X? Does it have to do with Planet X?"

Rue sat back on her hands. "I swore to Master I would not tell anyone anything about Project X. I said nothing about leaking the information by giving out the information on a data drive." The shadows of a coy grin formed upon her lips. "Or how it connects to Planet X."

Emu gave Rue a questioning look. "Why give me this?"

Rue picked her helmet back up.

"I'm a woman of my word. I have no choice but to go along with this project due to my code of honor. But that doesn't mean I want to see it succeed. I want you to stop Master." Rue fastened her helmet back on her head and activated it to complete her transition back into Ruby Knight. "Now you have a job to do, don't you? Arrest me."

"For…what?"

"I have done wrong, Shinji Mirai. I do need to be punished for my actions."

"But…what actions?"

"I can't say just yet. You'll find out when you look at the data on that drive."

"I can't arrest you then. Not until you do something wrong."

"…I held a blade to your throat before we started the duel and I did attack you, despite it being as part of a duel, does that count?" Ruby Knight pointed out.

Emu took in this information and thought about it for a second.

"…Forrest. The one who Master hurt by activating the Rift Energy in his body. Can you fix him?"

"No. He needs to either be drained of the energy or Master has to undo what he did." Ruby Knight simply said.

"…" Emu was quiet as he pulled out his Rift Closer and aimed it at her. "…I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Just do it." Ruby Knight ordered.

 **Arrest!**

Emu arrested Ruby Knight.

After this, he stood up and looked down at his Rift Closer, thinking about it.

"OI! EMU!" Horn shouted from behind him.

Emu turned around and looked up to see Horn and Fea waving at him from the top of the cliff.

"What are you doing down there?!" Fea yelled down to him.

Emu picked up his helmet from the ground and dusted it off.

"I'll explain later! Just meet me back at the base!" he yelled back to them.

"Gotcha! See ya there!" Fea responded.

The two quickly left the area.

Emu turned around to look at the area Ruby Knight was in. He then proceeded to put his helmet back on and leave.

* * *

Back at the base, Emu looked around as he walked into the main room.

"Hey, where's Mrs. Venus? I need to talk to her." He asked Rina, who was sitting at the table in the main room with Horn and Fea.

"She's checking on Forrest right now. Trying to make sure he's okay."

Emu nodded and backed out, preparing to leave the room.

"Wait, I have a question" Horn stopped Emu. "Where did you learn all that medical stuff? What was it, CPR?"

Emu stopped and turned back to Horn.

"Oh. My mother was a surgeon. Before she died I learned a few things…they came in handy here and there. But I haven't used that info in a while and I certainly didn't think it'd work on an alien, so I never really brought it up until this happened. I didn't know if it would work, but I had to try."

"What's a surgeon?" Fea asked.

"A surgeon is a medical practitioner who performs surgery." Emu gave the simple answer, though Fea still looked confused.

"Wait, your mother is dead?" Rina pointed out.

"…that's…not…really that important." Emu tried to leave, only to run into Mrs. Venus as she walked into the room.

"Hello." She pushed past him. He was quick to follow after her though.

"Mrs. Venus…I'm sorry I snapped like that." Emu bowed.

"That's what you're worried about? Get your priorities straight, Emu." Mrs. Venus simply said before sitting down at the table. "Alright, what've we got about Planet X?"

Rina stood up and used her Rift Closer to change the screen to show off data she had collected.

"I had Fea explain what she found. The fact that we can't land on it gives me a huge hint." Rina explained. "Remember when I mentioned that the materials Silver Knight stole from Earth can be used for a variety of machines? Well, one of the ones I mentioned enables a planet sized mass the ability to mask itself and be unaffected by gravity and leave everything else around it unaffected as well. This machine can also turn the planet intangible. But I can't think of why they haven't camouflaged it either. The only things I can think of are intimidation tactics, pride, or trying to scare us; but those are all just personal reasons whoever's doing this would have. Nothing actually concrete unless we have some form of evidence."

Mrs. Venus sighed and sat back in her seat.

Emu's eyes narrowed at the screen and he pulled out the data drive he had been given.

"…like this?" Emu held out the object.

The group turned to Emu at this.

"Like what?" Mrs. Venus's eyes narrowed at him.

"This is something containing information on something called Project X. Ruby Knight gave it to me after our duel. She indirectly confirmed that Project X is connected to Planet X."

Rina walked around the table and took the item from Emu, looking over it.

"You had this the entire time and never mentioned it?! Why?!" Mrs. Venus yelled at him.

Emu didn't make eye contact as he shrugged. "…I didn't want to interrupt."

"Unbelievable." Mrs. Venus sighed. "Rina-"

"I'll get to work on analyzing this. I'll need to check and make sure there's-" she was interrupted when something slammed against the door behind Emu. It opened a second later to reveal Mars, who had a look of panic on his face.

"Forrest is destabilizing."

"Selniad." Mrs. Venus swore as she got out of her seat and rushed out of the room. The others were quick to follow.

Upon entering the infirmary, Mrs. Venus was quick to note Forrest's squirming in bed and his body being soaked in sweat. He panted heavily against the mask on his face, fogging it up repeatedly as the machines he was plugged into gave repeated warnings in the form of rapid beeping.

His already pale skin was a brighter white, nearly making it look as if he was glowing.

"Oh my God." Emu said from behind Mrs. Venus.

She quickly moved over to him, looking at the readings and trying to figure out what to do.

"We need more medicine." She said.

"On it." Mars got to work looking through the cabinets.

"Rina, he's running a fever."

Rina moved towards Forrest and placed her hand on his forehead, utilizing her cold skin as a make shift ice pack.

"Horn, we may need to restrain him, be ready." Mrs. Venus was handed a needle by Mars, quickly inserting it into Forrest's arm.

This did little to help him, but it certainly did something to help.

Emu stared at the scene before him, a worried look on his face.

"He's not breathing!"

This worried look went away and was replaced by panic when Rina had said that.

"Don't quit on me!" Mrs. Venus growled. She prepared to bark another order to Fea when Emu appeared on Forrest's other side and started to perform CPR again.

"…that'll work." Was all his boss said before ignoring him.

 _Come on! Come on!_ Emu thought to himself as he performed the chest compressions. He had a determined look on his face.

 _He needs to either be drained of the energy or Master has to undo what he did._ Ruby Knight's voice said in Emu's head.

 _Drained of the energy…_

 _Drained…_

 _Drain…_

 _Drain._

 ** _Drain._**

Emu froze, his hands still planted firmly on Forrest's chest.

He remained that way as everyone else kept moving around him.

"If you're not going to help, get out of the way!" Mrs. Venus yelled at him and was about to walk around the table to get him when she noticed the blank look in his eyes.

It wasn't blank for long as his eyes glowed a bright silver with a sudden gust of wind moving his hair around.

"Emu?" Rina noticed this. The others did as well, though Rina was the only one to question what was happening.

However, it was quickly brushed aside when his hands started glowing red. Forrest stiffened and started letting out gasping, choked noises as energy could be seen travelling from Forrest's body into Emu's hands.

"What's…what's happening?" Horn questioned with a look of confusion on his face.

Mrs. Venus looked between Emu and Forrest with a look of suspicion and wary.

Forrest's eyes rolled back into his head as the veins covering his body suddenly became visible while they turned a black color.

Fea's eyes widened in horror before she quickly ran to them, grabbing Emu's shoulders and starting to try and tug him away.

"Hey! Stop it! You're killing him!" Fea shoved Emu off of Forrest. When the connection broke, Emu's eyes turned back to normal and the aura around his hands died down.

He seemed to be in a trance for a brief second, but snapped out of it when he landed in a sitting position and Forrest pulled the mask off his face before he began coughing harshly, turning over onto all fours in case something liquid or solid ended up coming out of his mouth.

Horn was quick to gently pat him on the back, thinking it might help.

Mrs. Venus looked at Forrest with a questioning look on her face. She raised up her arm and activated her Rift Closer to scan Forrest. However, after the screen appeared and she read the scan, she narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"It's gone." She simply said.

"What's gone?" Horn spoke up.

"The excess Rift Energy is gone…" Mrs. Venus clarified.

"What?" Mars asked.

"Gone? Does that mean he's okay? Where did it go?" Horn asked.

Mrs. Venus didn't have an answer. But she had a thought. She proceeded to aim her Rift Closer at Emu and press the button to perform another scan.

Though she quickly became shocked at what the scan was telling her.

"He…absorbed it."

Rina moved to Emu's side. "Emu, are you okay?"

"I feel fine." Emu shrugged.

"How can he do that and still be fine?" Horn asked.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rina questioned.

"Rina, I'm fine." Emu assured her.

"The Rift Energy Master activated is still there. But it's…it's just there. It's not hurting him or doing anything. It's…I don't know what I'm looking at."

Emu noticed he was being stared at by everyone, though most of the reactions he was being given were of wary and confusion, with the exceptions being concern from Rina and disbelief from Forrest.

He looked down at his hand, turning it over repeatedly but finding no traces of the red energy that had come from it.

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The six RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch, and MasterRanger laying on her side on the largest branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu and Mrs. Venus glowed red and orange with lightning and energy around them.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The six RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the six were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Kitsune Legend, Minotaur Legend, and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend and Kitsune Legend were on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm, and MasterRanger shook her head in amusement.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.


	11. Rift 11

Rift 11: The Conflicted Worlds

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

 **A/N: I missed last weeks chapter because I was on vacation. As such, I posted the chapter I missed along with the one after it to make up for it. This is the second one. If you came here before reading Rift 10, I highly recommend going to Rift 10, as events in Rift 11 will not make sense if read first.**

* * *

Emu looked over his palm with a confused look, flexing his fingers gently and individually.

After a bit, Emu flicked his wrist, trying to get a reaction out of his hand.

Across the table from him, Rina watched him with a worried look.

"…Emu?" she gently reached out and placed her hand on the hand he wasn't focused on, which was lying on the table.

"Huh? What?" Emu turned to look at her.

"Are you okay?" she quietly asked.

"Yeah." He lowered his hand. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Mrs. Venus walked into the room with a cup in her hand. She took one look at the two and rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure? Be honest with me." Rina requested.

"I'm fine, really. It's nothing." Emu put on a grin that Mrs. Venus immediately recognized as fake.

She gently set her cup down on the counter.

"Don't worry about me, I-" Emu started, only to be interrupted by yelling.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Mrs. Venus yelled as she ran at Emu. She jumped into the air and proceeded to drop kick him out of his chair.

"HOLY FUCK!" Emu screamed.

"Mrs. Venus!" Rina shouted at her boss as she sprung to her feet.

Mrs. Venus landed on all fours and stood up nonchalantly. While fixing her hair, she turned to Emu, who was rubbing the area on his side where he had been kicked.

"Ow…" he winced then looked up to her as she walked up to where he was sitting. "What was that about?"

"Do I have your attention?" she crouched down. "Good. Let me show you something, Emu." Mrs. Venus requested.

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The six Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was of Rift Master and Rift Mega.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master and Rift Mega once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of their mecha.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Rina fiddled with the dials on the stove. She looked confused as she tried to figure out what to do.

Behind her, Forrest entered the room wearing what looked like a bathrobe. He took notice of Rina at the stove as he walked around to a cupboard.

"…what are you doing?" he asked.

Rina turned to look at him.

"Oh, hey. I'm trying to cook something. Everyone's starting to get kind of stressed and worried, so I thought I'd try to make something for everyone while I'm waiting for my computer to download and go through all of the data on the drive Ruby Knight gave Emu." She admitted.

Forrest stared at her for a bit then glanced at the stove.

"…are you sure about that?"

"Of course I'm sure. I'm a genius, how hard can it be?" Rina grinned while leaning against the counter.

Forrest nonchalantly walked over and took her hand off the stove.

"Don't lean against the stove if you've turned it on already. Whatever you're making also needs to be on the stove already instead of putting it on after turning up the heat." He informed her.

"…oh." Rina sheepishly grinned.

"What are you making?"

"I was thinking of making a dessert from Mizuri." Rina nodded.

Forrest gave a brief nod before he turned off the stove.

"I've read up on food from Mizuri in the instance I had to eat there. From what I can tell, you don't use the stove to cook them. And you also don't cook them. You bake them in the oven."

Rina was speechless as she awkwardly scratched at the back of her head.

"…do you even know what you're making?"

"I was…gonna figure it out as I go along?" Rina winced as she realized what she was saying.

"…" Forrest blankly stared at her. After a bit, he sighed and went over to a cupboard, opening it to pull out a cookbook.

"What are you doing?" Rina asked as Forrest set the cookbook down on the counter and started flipping through the pages.

"Doing the baking for you before you set fire to the base." He stopped on a page and looked over the instructions. "…this'll do. I'll take over from here."

* * *

Emu winced as he stepped out of the Rift and into what looked like sunlight. He raised his hand up to cover his eyes as Mrs. Venus stepped out of the Rift behind him.

"Oh. Yeah. It's kinda bright here." She commented while covering her own eyes.

"Where are we?" Emu asked.

"…not there yet." Mrs. Venus took a second to look around and find out where they were. She then grabbed Emu by the hand and started pulling him away.

"Well, where are we going?" Emu asked when the sunlight was out of his eyes.

Mrs. Venus didn't answer, though Emu didn't seem to notice as he started looking around. They were on a white cliffside made of what looked like jewels hanging over a silver landscape that sat under a pink sky. When Emu looked over the cliff, he couldn't see the ground, instead finding brown clouds hanging in the air. When he looked up, he could see the blackness of space and dozens of stars littering the sky, forming constellations and shapes he'd never seen before. When he looked ahead, he could see several mountains in the distance that reached nearly as high as where he was standing.

Mrs. Venus stopped him when they reached a portion of the cliff that jutted out towards another cliffside, though it led to what looked like a cave entrance, except it went straight down instead of leading into a larger area.

"…okay, this seems like the perfect time. You see how the sunlight goes perfectly into the cave?"

Emu took a bit to look before he nodded. "Yeah. I see it. Why?"

Mrs. Venus didn't answer. She instead grabbed Emu by the back of his collar.

"Do you trust me?" she asked.

"Well now I'm not sure." Emu responded.

"Do you trust that I won't kill you or knowingly harm you?"

"Where…where is this coming from and going?" Emu hesitantly asked, a hint of terror and worry in his voice.

"Emu, just…trust me. Please." Mrs. Venus gently pleaded.

Emu looked up at his boss with a concerned look while she had a gentle, kind expression.

"…okay." Emu said.

"Good." Mrs. Venus grinned.

She then picked him up by his collar and tossed him into the cave entrance.

"Wa-IT, WHAT THE FUUUUUUUuuuuuuuu-" Emu screamed as he fell down the hole, his scream echoing through the cave and slowly getting quieter.

Mrs. Venus cracked her neck and jumped over the cliff and into the cave as well.

Emu screamed in terror as he tumbled through the hole. He did see that there was a myriad of colors in his sight that was both blinding and seizure inducing.

It was a few seconds later when he fell into what appeared to be a pool of liquid.

He did manage to find his way back to the surface as something splashed into the pool behind him.

Gasping for air, Emu floated in the pool of liquid while looking around for something solid. When he eventually found a platform at the side of the pool, Mrs. Venus surfaced from under the water next to him.

"Well, how was the trip?" she asked.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Emu yelled at her.

"…I take it you didn't see what I was trying to show you." Mrs. Venus nodded.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME?! AFTER TOSSING ME TO MY FUCKING DEATH?!"

"Yell at me when we get on something solid." Mrs. Venus started swimming towards the nearby platform.

"You're lucky I can swim." Emu growled, a hint of silver in his eyes.

The two made it to the platform and got onto it.

"Okay. So. What defense do you have for that?" Emu angrily said.

Venus simply pointed upwards to the entrance of the cave.

Emu followed her look upwards, only for his facial features to distort in surprise when he saw the crystals lining the hole.

Across the walls of the hole there were thousands of jewels made of a variety of colors jutting out. The sunlight that entered the cave reflected off of the jewels at the top and bounced around the hole until reaching the bottom, where the light hit the walls to the side of the cave. The pool of liquid reflected the glittering jewels from up above.

"What…the…"

"This is one of Haiens's moons: Krizta. I've explored this moon hundreds of times before and I always find someplace new and beautiful every time. This is one of those places. The first one I ever discovered. I call it Venus Lake." Mrs. Venus grinned.

"This is what you wanted to show me?" Emu asked.

"Well, not really. I find it's much more beautiful, though rather difficult to look at, when you look at the walls while falling through. I probably should have warned you about that though. Sorry." Mrs. Venus sheepishly grinned. "Though, this is still a beautiful view. I come here from time to time to help clear my head. Especially at night time. The moonlight shining is much prettier than the sunlight, but that's personally just my opinion."

"It's…one of the most beautiful things I've seen…" Emu smiled slightly as he stared at the glittering crystals and their reflections.

Mrs. Venus smirked as she stared at Emu for a bit. That smirk faded and was replaced by a frown as she thought about something. Sighing, she looked away while speaking up.

"I have something to confess."

Emu turned to look at her as she continued.

"My species has a certain problem with our emotions. If we get too riled up, we end up losing control of emotions. What happens next is anyone's guess. So if I turn extremely angry, I'll go into a furious state and wreck everything in my path until I can reach some kind of catharsis. It's why I did so much after you got hurt. I saw you getting hurt and…I couldn't help myself. I lost control and tried to make Aqua Knight pay for what he did."

Emu was quiet as he let this sink in. He looked up at his boss with a look of concern.

"But enough about me. I know you're upset about all that's compounded together. You don't have a reason to fight, your injury ended up hurting everyone in the fight against Aqua Knight, and then you drained Rift Energy from Forrest and almost killed him."

Mrs. Venus looked at Emu. "But that's okay. I trust you to do what you know is right. Mistakes will be made along the way and incidents out of our control will happen, but at most all we can do is move on and learn from them. Like with this. You plummeted through the hole the first time. But the next time, you've learned from the fall and know to appreciate the view before you reach the end."

"…you probably could've used a better analogy." Emu remarked.

Mrs. Venus laughed. "True. Despite this, I'm telling you to do what you can now. Just be you. If you mess up or do something, don't be sorry over it. Make up for it and move on while learning from the mistake."

Emu looked towards the reflection of the jewels in the pool in front of him. He grit his teeth and clenched his fist as he thought about this. After a bit, he spoke up again.

"Why did you tell me to visit my family after we found Planet X approaching?" Emu asked.

Mrs. Venus sighed as she looked down. She seemed to be hesitant to answer him. But she eventually looked at him with an afraid and sad look.

"…just in case…Earth doesn't make it. Your family needs to see you before…before they die."

Emu looked at her with a confused look as he thought over what she just said.

"You mean…you mean if, right?" he nervously laughed as if what she had just said to him was a funny joke.

His boss looked forwards with a blank expression.

"…I don't know."

* * *

Rina's jaw dropped as Forrest pulled the pan out of the oven. The dish looked similar in design and shape to the dessert Emu had served her earlier. And it looked cooked to perfection.

"There. It's done." He set the food on the countertop and pulled the gloves off his hands.

"Where did you learn to cook, Forrest?" Rina asked in amazement.

"I taught myself out of boredom." Forrest simply said.

"Huh." Rina nodded. "Well…thanks."

"I just didn't want you to burn the place down."

"I'm not that bad…" Rina muttered to herself.

"Yeah. Sure." Forrest laughed.

Rina looked at Forrest with a surprised look.

He glanced at her but did a double-take when he noticed her look.

"What?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry. I've just…never really heard you laugh like that before." She explained.

Forrest blinked. "Well…I…you…" he scratched behind his ear sheepishly. "…shut up." He said.

Rina laughed.

"…Rina. Did you know that Emu could do that?" Forrest asked.

"Do…oh. That. No. I didn't." Rina admitted.

"I see. Do you know why he did it?"

Rina tilted her head in confusion. "Why he…saved you?"

Forrest paused, but nodded. "Yes."

"I don't really know myself." Rina shrugged. "He seems to kinda be afraid of you. But he was still the fastest to respond when we all thought you were in danger of dying. He tried to save you despite his fear."

Forrest nodded afterwards. "I…I understand."

"Good." Rina grinned. "Now…how exactly did you make it look better than the book?" Rina pointed to the dessert.

Forrest raised an eyebrow. "I followed the instructions but took a few creative liberties here and there."

"What? But why? Why change anything?"

"It has to be edible for everyone. There were ingredients in here that are poisonous to Fea and Mars so I had to use substitutes that wouldn't kill them if they were baked into this." Forrest explained.

Rina suddenly realized her mistake and rubbed at the gills on the side of her neck nervously.

The door opened, Emu and Mrs. Venus walking into the room.

"Rina. Can you…can you come help me with something?" Emu quietly asked.

* * *

Emu and Rina fell out of a Rift near the empty street they were at last time with Horn.

Emu led Rina down the street towards the complex from last time, only they made it much farther than last time.

This time, they made it to the same building that Emu had reached with Mrs. Venus and Horn.

But unlike last time, there was a person there when Emu froze in the doorway.

Rina took note of the architecture of the room briefly before noticing there was a woman standing in the middle of the room. She was wearing robes of some sort while sweeping the floor. She hadn't noticed the two had walked in as her body was facing away from them.

Rina looked at Emu to see he had frozen in place with a blank look on his face. It took him a second before he loudly coughed to gain the woman's attention. She quietly used her Rift Closer to ensure the woman could understand her if she started speaking.

"Oh?" The woman noticed them. "I'm terribly sorry, I wasn't expecting…" the woman trailed off as she spotted Emu mid-turn. The grin she had forming on her face had immediately gone. She stared at Emu with a hanging jaw and wide eyes.

Rina looked between Emu and the strange woman, not wanting to be rude and interrupt the moment they appeared to be having.

The broom in the woman's hands dropped and clattered to the floor as she moved towards the two. Soon enough, she and Emu only had a foot or two of distance between them.

"…Shinji? Is that…" the woman started to say in a quiet and almost unsure voice.

"…I'm really here…Auntie Yoko…" Emu gently said.

The woman immediately threw her arms around Emu in a tight hug, shaking in a manner similar to crying. Rina was alarmed by this and as a result, had no idea how to respond when Emu gently hugged her back with a single tear rolling down his cheek.

The woman broke the hug and wiped her face while backing up. She pivoted on one foot to start yelling.

"Kazumi! Kazumi get in here now!"

"What?" a deep male voice yelled back. An older man wearing robes similar to the woman's but in a green color ran into the room, worried. "What's wrong, Yo-" he too froze just like the woman did.

"He's home." The woman said.

The older man moved towards them quickly and then wrapped his arms around Emu in a tight hug when he was close enough.

It took a second for Rina to realize that this was a family reunion. And the family was elated to see each other. But…why had Emu masked his emotions?

She discreetly used her Rift Closer on the man as well so he would understand her should they end up talking.

The older man broke the hug and wiped tears from his eyes.

"Can you stay? We have much to discuss."

Emu nodded.

"I'll go get us some drinks." The woman nodded and quickly left.

Rina and Emu sat down at a table further into the building with the older man sitting down across from them.

"So, who's your friend?" the man asked.

"Oh. This is Rina. She's a coworker of mine." Emu explained.

"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you." The older man held his hand out.

Rina looked down at the hand for a second.

"Handshake, right?" she said aloud before reaching out to shake the man's hand.

This earned her a look of confusion.

"She's…not from here." Emu simply explained. "Rina, this is my uncle, Kazumi Mirai. Auntie Yoko, I mean, Yoko Mirai, is my aunt."

"Auntie?" Rina looked at him questioningly.

"Where exactly is she from?" Kazumi cautiously asked.

"…Brazil." Emu took a second to think.

 _Brazil? What's that supposed to be?_ Rina kept her thoughts to herself so as not to arouse more suspicion. Emu had requested she keep the alien thing a secret until he was sure his family could handle it. She thought she was doing a good job so far.

"Any reason why she has…gills?" Kazumi asked.

"…she's a makeup artist who's currently experimenting with a certain technique." Emu said. Rina was rather impressed by how quickly he came up with that. Even if she had no idea what it meant.

Yoko came back and prevented any further conversation by setting down some cups and a container of sorts. She filled the cups with liquid from the container.

"All I had was tea. But thankfully, it's the good kind." She informed them before sitting down next to Kazumi.

"What have you been up to since we last saw you?" Yoko asked.

"I've been exploring. Trying to find myself since…you know. I was in town for a bit and decided to come visit." Emu explained.

"You've been exploring? That explains why we haven't been able to get in contact with you." Kazumi said.

"Kazumi." Yoko snapped at her husband. She turned back to Emu and reached for him. "We're just happy you're alive and okay." Yoko gently grasped Emu's hand.

Emu nodded along.

"Are there any reasons why the streets are empty?" Rina asked.

This got her confused looks from Kazumi and Yoko, though Emu was quick to back her up.

"Yeah, that confuses me too."

Kazumi sat back in his chair.

"Haven't you heard? Every country in the world is extremely worried about everything that's happened. Those terrorist groups using advanced technology causing havoc all across the world are the cause of that. Plus that strange meteor in the sky has everyone terrified." Kazumi sighed while crossing his arms.

Emu and Rina both looked at each other. The look of worry on Emu's face matched the one Rina had on, given what the two knew about the 'meteor' in the sky.

Emu faced his aunt and uncle again and spoke up, changing the topic of the conversation with three words.

"How is Asuka?"

Yoko smiled. "She's doing great. She's been practicing kendo and getting much better. She should be in school right now, but when she gets back, she's going to be delighted to see you again."

"What about Daigo and Ryo? Are they still keeping in contact with you guys?" Emu asked.

Kazumi and Yoko gave each other a look before Kazumi sighed and faced his nephew.

"We haven't heard from Daigo or Ryo in a long time." Kazumi sadly informed Emu.

Emu was taken aback for a bit by what he was hearing, even appearing a bit disappointed. He leaned forward on his arms as he asked another question.

"And…is Ryo still hiding?"

At this, Rina looked at Emu weirdly. He was obviously implying something with that question, but she couldn't decipher what it was.

"Yes. He is." Yoko gave a quick and simple answer. "The last time we checked on them and they responded, that is."

"Oh…" Emu nodded in understanding.

"Shinji and Daigo were the best of friends growing up." Yoko explained to Rina. "They were inseparable up until Shinji's father…" Yoko trailed off, much to Rina's confusion.

"Until he…what?" Rina asked.

The married couple looked towards each other while Emu refused to make eye contact with Rina.

Kazumi quickly decided to change the subject.

"Let me guess, this is your girlfriend?" Kazumi gestured towards Rina. "Nice to see you're moving on so nicely after your last relationship."

Emu winced lightly.

"She's uh…not my girlfriend. She's just my friend." Emu explained.

"Oh." Kazumi simply said.

The group was filled with an awkward silence for a few minutes.

"…you said this was tea?" Rina asked as she sipped some of the drink from her cup.

"Oh, yes. Chamomile." Yoko said.

"It's very good."

"Thank you."

A ringing noise came from Emu's Rift Closer, prompting him to pull it out of his pocket.

"Uh…this is for me. I'll be right back." He stood up to take the call, leaving Rina with his aunt and uncle.

Rina looked between Kazumi and Yoko for a second before she decided to speak up.

"What exactly…happened? I know this is a breach of his privacy, but he never really told me what happened. Not entirely at least." Rina admitted.

"Which incident are you referring to?" Kazumi asked.

Rina narrowed her eyes. "How…how many 'incidents' are there?"

Kazumi seemed to realize his mistake as he suddenly started to avert eye contact with Rina.

Yoko on the other hand was…less hesitant to explain.

"Shinji has…been through a lot. We've known him all of his life and he's been through heartbreak, loss, suffering, all kinds of things no one should have to go through. He lost his mother when he was very young in a car accident. His father was a scientist who was studying these strange 'rifts' in space and time-"

"Wait, Rifts?" Rina interrupted.

"Yes." Yoko nodded. "He dedicated most of his work to studying them. He ended up making some kind of machine that would open it, but it backfired. It opened something, but the machine failed to work properly and imploded, taking Ryuga into it as well. Poor Shinji was with his father as he tested this. He was only ten at the time and had to watch his father die to his own experiment. We've raised him like our own son ever since."

"Emu's father died because he tried to open a Rift?" Rina tried to wrap her head around what she was hearing.

"That's correct. It wasn't the first time he did it either. He said something to me about opening one before and this machine was supposed to be a permanent gateway. He did have followers, but he was the only one who knew for sure what he was getting into." Yoko said.

"My brother in law was very secretive about his work. He rarely told anyone anything about it except what he considered the 'bare minimum.' He only told Yoko that detail because he was sleep deprived." Kazumi explained.

 _If his father previously dabbled in Rift Energy before, why has Emu never mentioned this?_ Rina thought.

"What…what other incidents happened to Emu?"

Kazumi was the one to speak up this time.

"Well…Shinji told you that he was an idol, right? He was, in fact. He was half of a world-famous idol duo named 'Mamoru Mirai', with the two being named Shinji Mirai and Shinji Mamoru. But something unexpected about this duo was that they were in love. In fact, they were actually engaged when…" Kazumi trailed off. He took a second before he started speaking again. "…when Shinji was touring with his partner, they were both kidnapped and held for ransom."

"They…what?!" Rina was taken by surprise.

"That's right." Yoko nodded. "Shinji and his boyfriend had been on tour when they were kidnapped. They were brutally tortured as they waited for their ransom to be paid. But…the police finally came to solve the matter and ended up finding a warehouse soaked in blood with only one survivor."

"And…that was Emu?" Rina finished.

"Yes. Shinji to this day still refuses to say anything about what happened to us other than he killed the man he loved. We don't know how or why but when it was investigated they theorized-"

"They theorized I had got free and killed everyone." Emu's voice cut into the conversation.

Rina froze and turned around in her seat. Emu was standing in the doorway, a blank look on his face as he stared at the ground.

"Emu…"

"That I had snapped and killed everyone. And Shinji had…had ended up in the crossfire." Emu quietly said. Tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"I don't remember anything that happened at all. I probably blanked out and when I woke up, Shinji was in my arms, dying. It's anyone's guess what actually happened. But…all I really know and care about is…the fact that the man I loved died in my arms…and it was most likely my fault he died.

"Emu, I-" Rina tried to say.

"Come on. Mrs. Venus needs us." Emu turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Wait, Shinji!" Yoko called out as she and Kazumi got up to go after their nephew. Rina followed soon after.

Rina had only turned the corner when she saw Emu go into a Rift that closed almost immediately.

Yoko and Kazumi turned the corner just after this, missing him entirely. They went in the direction they thought he went, ignoring Rina.

She simply swallowed a breath and entered a Rift.

* * *

Rina fell out of a Rift into a blank white room, where the rest of her team waited. She took notice of Emu, who was staring at a wall blankly.

"Emu-"

"Don't, Rina." He stated in a monotone voice. "I don't want to talk anymore about this."

Mrs. Venus looked between them.

"What happened to you two?"

Rina didn't answer.

"…well, either way, we're about to go before the council about Planet X. Get ready for this." Her boss said.

* * *

The council waited patiently for the team to enter the room they were in. The team stood on the platform in the center of the room.

"Greetings, Rift Guardians." One of the council members said.

The team gave varying degrees of greeting in return.

"You stand before us regarding the situation of Planet X and Earth 385. What do you have to say?" the feline said.

"What do we have to say?" Mrs. Venus repeated. "What do you mean?"

"The situation on Earth has escalated and now Planet X has appeared and is approaching the planet. What do you have to say for yourself?" The canine clarified.

"Are you blaming us for this?" Fea asked.

"Not all of us." The robot added.

"We asked for help and you declined." Mrs. Venus pointed out. "We couldn't handle this on our own and we made that clear. And now that Planet X shows up you deem it fit to blame us for this?"

"We decided that you all could handle it. It is not our fault you did not meet our expectations." The feline said.

"Are you all stupid?" Forrest asked. "We were in no way prepared for this. We were taken by surprise just as much as you were. We didn't know this would happen."

"I do not see how insulting our intelligence is helping your case." The horse-like figure said.

"You can't just deny us assistance and then blame us for not taking care of the problem when we couldn't take care of the problem without assistance." Horn said.

"Enough!" a mass of eight legs and two heads thundered. "You are not here to argue this. As of this time, you are all to begin evacuating Earth."

"Wait, what?" Emu spoke up for the first time. "Why?"

"In order to destroy Planet X, we may need to destroy the entire solar system, including your home planet." The humanoid clarified.

"What, no! You can't!" Emu cried.

"We cannot allow Planet X to be brought back. If we must destroy this Earth in the crossfire, we may not have a choice."

"But you do! We have enough to stop it! We don't have to destroy anything!"

"Our decision is final." The feline said.

"Please, isn't there anything we can do? Anything at all?" Emu pleaded.

"No." the avian said. "Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do. I apologize, young human, but we have no other option. We fear Planet X too much to let its exist be prolonged."

Emu looked to be about to say something else when there was a beeping noise.

"It would appear time is up. Please leave. We do have a full schedule." The robot said.

"But…I…" Emu appeared to be on the verge of a panic attack when Mrs. Venus placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Come on…there's nothing we can do." She glared up at the council before turning away and reaching for her Rift Closer.

Emu didn't respond, instead in a state of panic at the moment. He seemed to relax for a moment as he swallowed a breath and stiffened.

However, there was a brief gust of wind out of nowhere. Emu's hair moved around his face as his eyes flashed a silver coloration.

"Wait" Rina turned to Emu.

Forrest turned as well, clearly recognizing this.

Mrs. Venus turned as well, looking towards Emu with confusion. Mars, Fea, and Horn mirrored her.

Emu looked up.

"Who in the fuck do you all think you are?" he growled.

"Time is up, young human. Please-" the feline started.

"Shut the fuck up." Emu snapped.

"Emu…" Mrs. Venus started trying to caution him.

"You know what…fuck all of you idiotic, selfish, pieces of shit!" Emu yelled. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"I must ask you to-" the canine started but was quickly interrupted.

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up and listen, asshole!" Emu practically screamed.

The humanoid appeared interested at the development before him.

"How in the sweet FUCK can all of you dickholes just sit up there and do everything wrong then get onto us for your mistakes!" Emu gestured. "Then you have the nerve to order us to evacuate a planet and make us believe it's our own damn faults!"

"We do not have a choice. The decision is final."

"So you're just content with destroying my home world and an entire SYSTEM of planets just because you all fucked up and aren't willing to accept this is all your fault?! Really?! That has to be the dumbest shit I've ever heard!"

"Emu" Rina tried to grab him.

"Don't you touch me either. I'm still pissed at you, but that's not what I'm getting into now." He snarled at her as he shook off her grip.

Rina looked down at her hand as if she had been burned before looking again at Emu.

"You must be willing to accept some sacrifices." The humanoid spoke up.

"That's my planet! I'm not just going to let it be destroyed!" Emu yelled at the council.

"Emu-" Mrs. Venus warned.

"No! Fuck that! You all just sit up there thinking you can decide the fate of trillions of lives! I'm not going to just sit by and let you decide that my world can just be destroyed! I've seen the things that have been made by the Rift Guardians! The Rift Legends, the Rift Closers, our weapons and suits! Surely there has to be SOMETHING that can save my world!" Emu angrily shouted.

"If you think that a temper tantrum can save your world I sincerely apologize but you may have to mature before you can call yourself a Rift Guardian." The feline hissed at him.

"Temper tantrum?! I'm trying to save my world! If you think that me calling you out for letting my world be destroyed because of your bullshit decision making is a temper tantrum then maybe I'm not the one that needs to mature!"

"Young man, if you don't watch your tone-" the horse-like being started.

"What, you want me to grovel at your feet like some pathetic waste of space? Is that what you want? To satisfy your goddamn ego?" Emu growled. "That's not how this is going to work. We bust our asses to work and save entire planets and here you fuckers are sitting on pillars decided that you're better than us because of your position! If you want to decide the fate of lives then get off your asses and see what you're sacrificing 'for the greater good.' Because there is no 'greater good' that results from willingly letting others die!"

"Someone please restrain him." The humanoid ordered.

"Perhaps we should hear him out more." The avian suggested, but was ignored.

Forrest started walking towards Emu.

"Restrain me for what? Seeing through your crap? How about-GUH!" Emu was interrupted by Forrest pulling back and then punching him in the gut, knocking him unconscious.

Rina was quick to run forward and catch Emu before he hit the ground.

Mrs. Venus stared at Emu with wide, shocked eyes.

"…please…excuse that outburst." Mars quickly apologized.

"Get him out of our sight now. Complete your mission and await his punishment." The canine barked.

Forrest opened a Rift that the others were quick to go into, Horn helping carry Emu.

Forrest gave one last glare to the council before he followed after his team.

* * *

Rue had been meditating in her jail cell when she heard the commotion. It had been peaceful until now, with not a lot of issues to speak of.

Then the door to her cell was blown off.

When the smoke cleared, Rue was shocked to see Master enter with a bag in his hands. The bag clattered to her feet.

"Suit up." He ordered and left.

Rue had no choice but to comply, stepping out of her cell as Ruby Knight. She quickly found Master waiting in the hallway with the other members of her team, Gold, Silver, Dark, and Aqua Knights.

"Good. We're all here." Dark Knight sighed.

"Come along, my Knight Force." Master said before he started walking through the hallway. The group followed after him, though only one of them appeared to be hesitant about her decision.

* * *

"Master broke out his Knight Force." Mars informed the team.

After what had happened, the team had returned to their base. Emu was confined to his room until he cooled off, and Rina had gone off elsewhere to do some analysis.

Mrs. Venus sighed. It was bad enough Emu had a meltdown in front of the council, now this had happened.

"…there's nothing we can do about it. We already have our mission." She sighed.

Forrest, who was sitting across from her, gave her a look. "Really? You're just going to cave like that?"

"I don't have a choice. If Emu hadn't yelled at the council and gone over time, I could've probably found some loophole or bent the rules a bit to allow us to save Earth 385. But now I can't. So all we can do at this point is begin evacuating the life on Earth." Mrs. Venus sighed.

"That can't be all we can do. A planet containing trillions of lives is about to be destroyed and you're willing to just let it go?"

"I'm not willing. But our team is on thin ice. We shouldn't be so willing to break it."

Forrest was quiet as he looked away.

Mrs. Venus bit at her thumbnail while thinking. She kept her eyes on Forrest. Eventually, she pulled back to start talking.

"I'm sorry for not believing you earlier." Mrs. Venus apologized to Forrest.

Forrest turned back to face Mrs. Venus. "You're sorry?"

"Yes. I didn't believe you when you told me about Emu snapping like that. I did my own investigation and found nothing resembling what you said. And then this had to go and happen at the worst time possible."

Forrest didn't say anything else. It took a second before he stood up and started walking out of the room. "I'm going to get to work."

His boss didn't respond.

* * *

Elsewhere, Emu was currently lying in a bed in a room somewhere in the base. After he had joined the team, he had been given his own room to sleep in. He hadn't personalized it, but he had moved in fully.

He winced as he removed the ice pack from where Forrest had punched him.

 _Forrest has a hell of a punch. But…why did he punch me? And when?_ He thought. He tried hard to remember what had happened, but he couldn't think of anything. The last thing he remembered was being told by Mrs. Venus that there was nothing they could do.

He wished Rina was there to talk. Admittedly, he had thought he was acting harsh towards her. But…he hadn't been ready to reveal his past just yet and the fact that she went behind his back…did really hurt.

And to top it off, his home planet was about to be destroyed.

It was at times like this Emu wished for some kind of miracle before he eventually had some kind of nervous breakdown from everything horrible compounding.

He got his wish when there was a short knock on his door. It opened a second later.

Forrest walked into the room with his hands in his pockets and the expected scowl on his face. He made eye contact with Emu then gestured with his head back out the door.

"Come on." Forrest said.

"What's up?" Emu looked confused.

"I want to help you."

"You…What?" Emu blinked.

"I want to help you." Forrest replied. "The council is going to do nothing. Even if hundreds of however many of lives are saved, that means nothing if it's only the bare minimum used to save them. Letting the planet be destroyed and only saving the lives when you could've done more is unforgivable. So come on. We're going to stop Master and destroy Planet X ourselves."

Emu stared at Forrest in shock as the older wolfman crossed his arms.

"And we're going to save your world."

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The six RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch, and MasterRanger laying on her side on the largest branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu and Mrs. Venus glowed red and orange with lightning and energy around them.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The six RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the six were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Kitsune Legend, Minotaur Legend, and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend and Kitsune Legend were on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm, and MasterRanger shook her head in amusement.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.


	12. Rift 12

Rift 12: The False World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers: **"Connected"**

* * *

Forrest walked up to Rina's room with Emu in tow.

"Do we really need Rina's help?" Emu asked.

"Well she's the smartest person on this team and probably has more reasons to help you than I do. I don't give a damn if you're having a lovers' spat, we need her if we're going to do this." Forrest knocked on Rina's door then entered anyways.

Emu just sighed and followed after him.

The first thing Emu noticed about Rina's room was that it was freezing. He lightly shivered and hugged himself before turning to Rina.

"Emu-" Rina got up from her computer and started to say.

"We're going to save Earth. You in?" Forrest interrupted.

Rina paused and looked at him in confusion. After a second, she took her vest off the back of her chair and put it on. "You…what?"

"You heard me. Earth is going to be destroyed if Planet X isn't taken care of. We should have enough information to take care of Planet X. So are you going to help us?" Forrest crossed his arms.

Rina looked at Forrest for a bit before she turned to Emu. Emu made eye contact, but appeared to be nervous about maintaining it.

"…of course. Anything for my friends."

"Good. Let's get started."

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The six Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was of Rift Master and Rift Mega.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master and Rift Mega once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of their mecha.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

Fea impatiently waited at a table in a restaurant. Her foot nervously shook as she appeared to be waiting for someone.

She didn't wait long when someone walked up behind her and coughed lightly before speaking. "H-hello, Fea."

Fea spun around to find Princess standing behind her.

"Hey! You made it!" Fea stood up and hugged Princess, much to the recipient's surprise.

"Y-yeah. I wanted to see you again." Princess shyly admitted.

"Really?" Fea broke the hug and backed up. "That's great!" she grinned. "…is Maid with you?"

Princess shook her head.

"No. She can certainly fight well and act as my bodyguard, but I requested that I go alone to meet with you." Princess explained.

Fea's eyes widened lightly but she grinned as a result of this.

"That's awesome! Come on, let's sit down." Fea led Princess to their table.

* * *

"What information do you have from the data drive?" Forrest asked Rina.

After ensuring the door was locked, Rina went back to her computer and started pulling up documents.

"Well…there's a lot of data. There are a few gaps that we'll have to fill in, but important details are there. They are using that machine to mask Planet X. Most of what we've seen so far was a part of this plan. There's data logs, journals, simulations, all sorts of stuff."

"Rue really went all out, huh?" Emu said.

"How do they all factor together?" Forrest asked.

Rina pointed at Forrest. "That's where it gets interesting. Planet X isn't actually going to be used as a weapon of mass destruction. The End Charges on Earth are supposed to be anchor points that are tied to specific points on Planet X. I don't know how they are supposed to align, but I theorize it will involve phasing over Earth and then combining from there. The End Charges are supposed to function as beacons and then as rechargeable batteries when the merge is completed."

"If it's not a weapon of mass destruction, then what is it?" Forrest asked.

"I don't know. It's only plans for what to do now. Nothing about the aftermath." Rina shrugged.

Forrest nodded along. "Is there anything we can use to stop it?"

Rina grinned. "Absolutely. I've gained enough context clues to know that Planet X as it is now has programming based on that of a Double-Acting Physical Engine."

"No idea what that is." Forrest said.

"A Double-Acting Physical Engine is a powerful computer system and accompanying machine that powers large mechanical ships and particularly gigantic housing units. But they're known for their aversion to errors and failings. However, the first version was infamous for a specific way you could get it to fail. Nowadays they say they've gotten rid of that glitch, but some people have found a way to override the programming for that and cause a large meltdown. It's quite spectacular."

"Do you…know how to get that virus?" Emu asked.

"Of course I do. It comes in handy." Rina winked. "There should be multiple terminals all over Planet X to cover multiple areas. If I can get to one of the terminals, I can upload the virus into the system and cause a meltdown that destroys Planet X. But we'll have to get it away from Earth before it blows fully."

"Wait." Forrest paused the conversation. "Do you have a way to get us on Planet X without phasing through?"

"Yes. I can use a program on the Rift Legends that'll put us on the same 'wavelength', so to speak, as Planet X so we can land on it."

"Can't we just use a Rift to get on?" Forrest asked.

"I don't think so." Surprisingly, it was Emu who spoke up "I mean, Planet X is still moving towards Earth. And it's a pretty unnatural movement too, so wouldn't that be kind of difficult to open a Rift on the surface of that planet?"

Rina nodded. "He's right. Rift Closers open Rifts with regards to the current position of the planet with regards to orbit, planet size, and so on. Planet X doesn't necessarily fit with any of that. So we'll have to land on it manually."

"How long will it take to program it into all of our Rift Legends?" Forrest asked.

"Altogether, a while. But if I can divide it into several parts and put it into the other Rift Legends, if we combine into Rift Master, the program will be complete enough that we can use it then."

"Rift Master?" Forrest narrowed his eyes. "You want to involve Fea and Horn in on this?"

"We may need Horn's brute strength and Fea's ranged attacks. We have your leadership, my intelligence, and Emu's skill. We could have more assistance just in case we need it." Rina shrugged.

"How do you know we can't handle it on our own?" Forrest gestured between himself and Emu.

"Me?" Emu pointed at himself.

"You can fight." Forrest simply said.

"Well, you're still not entirely ready to go all out yet, Forrest." Rina said. "You're still supposed to be resting after you were drained of that excess Rift Energy."

Forrest paused as he thought about this.

"…fine. I'll recruit Horn and Fea. Get to work on the program." Forrest told Rina before he left.

However, he left Emu and Rina alone.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a bit.

"…I'm sorry for getting mad at you." Emu said.

"You…what?" Rina paused her typing to say to him.

"I was…a bit too harsh about that." Emu said.

Rina stared at Emu with a blank look. She sighed and then turned back to her computer. Gently, she patted the area on her bed, which was right next to her.

"Lock the door and sit down. We need to talk."

* * *

Fea wiped her lips with her napkin gently as she listened intently to Princess's story.

"…and when all was said and done, it just turned out my brother gave the man more money than he should have." Princess finished.

"…huh." Fea said. "That was…really stupid of him."

"He was just trying to be nice." Princess defended her sibling. "He does like being a nice person. He just…has trouble with his tone and behavior."

"He sounds like a real handful." Fea said.

"You have no idea." Princess moaned.

"Well. I might. Zars can be a real pain in the feathers, but he's still my little brother. I'd do anything for him. He's also mentioned his desire to do the same for me."

"That's something I will never get Prince to say." Princess seriously said, but ended up laughing not long afterwards.

"Not all brothers are the same. If that were true I bet we wouldn't really have a lot to talk about because we'd both have the same problems." Fea said.

"True. Except we do have royal responsibilities that we both have to account for." Princess sighed.

Fea frowned and gave a brief nod. "Yeah. My father's thinking of stepping down as king soon. Which means I…might become the queen of my kingdom."

"Really? Oh my Dyetiz, that's amazing!" Princess exclaimed.

"Yeah…amazing." Fea bit the inside of her lip.

"What's wrong?" Princess asked.

"I…I really don't think I'm ready to be queen yet." Fea nervously admitted. "There's a lot of business I'm not ready for, and I'd have to lead the kingdom, and all this other hard stuff. It's…very nerve-racking."

"Can't Zars do it?"

"No. I can't just shove it all onto him because I can't handle it. He's a lot younger than I am and nowhere near ready."

"Well…if your father thinks your ready, maybe you are." Princess tried to reason. "My mother's that way. She tries to groom me and my brother for ascension to the throne soon, though neither of us are ready quite yet. Even Master's trying to convince her to let us age a bit more-" it was at this point Fea had tuned her out and froze in shock.

"Wait." She interrupted. "Did…did you just say Master?"

Princess blinked in confusion. "Yes. Master. He's the general of my mother's army of Peasants. What about him?"

Fea's jaw dropped.

"Princess…does Master have a group of…'knights' working under him?"

Princess couldn't get rid of her look of confusion. "Uh…yes. He has a Knight Force consisting of five warriors he recruited."

Fea stared at Princess with a look of pure shock.

"…what?" Princess asked.

"Princess, do you…do you know what Master is doing?" Fea asked, hoping that her crush was innocent.

"What do you mean?"

"Is he a part of some kind of plan? Involving a planet?"

"I don't really know. He mentioned something about making a new manufacturing planet for Peasants using Rift Energy."

Fea let this information sink in. Her face grew horrified as she connected the dots.

"The End Charges are pure Rift Energy. He's gonna use Planet X to make Earth into…" she said aloud.

Princess stiffened. "What did you just say? Did you just say Planet X?"

"Earth 385 is being approached by a strange planet sized mass that looks exactly like Planet X. And it's being in covered in these…beacon-thingies called End Charges. You said Rift Energy is going to be used to power the new Peasants on this new planet…" Fea tried to explain.

"Fea, what are you talking about?" Princess asked in a slightly worried, slightly disturbed tone.

Fea was quick to explain everything, Princess growing more and more concerned and angered the more she went on.

"He. What." Princess grit her teeth as her fist gripped her fork.

"I…I have to go warn the others." Fea realized. She quickly sprung upwards and made to run, but paused and pulled out a container of sorts. After pulling out several pieces of some kind of currency, she tossed it onto the table and grabbed Princess by the cheeks.

"Fea, wh-?!" Princess let out a squeak when Fea leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

Fea pulled back after a few seconds. "Thank you so much! I'll call you later!" she sprinted away as quickly as she could, her wings becoming visible as they unfolded out.

Princess sat frozen in that position for a good while, the only movement she made being touching her lips after a few moments and her breathing as she tried to absorb what had just happened.

* * *

Emu stared down at the ground.

Rina typed rapidly at her computer.

The two were silent.

Though Rina had said they needed to talk, neither of them were particularly ready to start talking. It was a bit of time before Rina had spoken up. "I'm sorry."

Emu shook his head. "Rina, don't-"

"Hear me out." Rina interrupted. "I went behind your back when I shouldn't have. I understand that and I'm sorry."

"…I wanted to tell you at some point." Emu quietly admitted. "I just…wasn't ready yet."

"I know. I just…" Rina stopped typing. "I wanted to know more about you."

"Well, you are a scientist and you do love knowledge." Emu tried to joke.

"It's not about that." Rina denied. "I…I worry about you, Emu. A lot. I don't know anything about you and you do a lot of things that make it seem like you have no concern for your own well-being. I wanted to understand you."

"I get that." Emu nodded. "But it wasn't Auntie Yoko or Uncle Kazumi's story to tell. It was mine. And the fact that you went behind my back when I left the room for a second to pry into business I was nowhere near ready to reveal yet…really hurts." Emu admitted, scratching at his arms nervously.

"I'm sorry." Rina said again. She started typing again. "For everything."

"I know. It's just…it's complicated." Emu admitted.

"…if it's any consolation…we all have problems and businesses that we'd prefer not to reveal to others just yet. I want you to know that you're not alone in your pain. You don't have to go through it alone. I'll always be there to help, Emu."

"Even if I'm not there for you?" Emu quietly asked.

"You will be." Rina immediately said. "…you're the only friend I have that I feel like truly understands me. You're also one of the most self-destructively selfless people I've ever met. You'll always be there for anyone who wants help."

"Really? Well do you have any problems you want to talk about now that you're ready to talk?" Emu dryly asked.

"Yes." Rina replied.

However, she briefly paused her typing as she thought of something. Emu caught onto this and immediately felt terrible.

"Rina, I'm-"

"My mother favors my younger sister and considers me a disappointment to the family." Rina admitted.

"…oh."

Rina nodded. "Yeah. My only guess as to why is that I'm a scientist. I'm one of the smartest people on our home planet and even in some other groups, but because that's not what she wanted me to be, I'm nothing but her failed product. My younger sister, Mari, has always been sheltered by her. I guess she just didn't want to repeat the mistake she made with me…" Rina trailed off, a hint of a sniffle present in her breathing.

Emu gently reached out to put his hand on Rina's.

"…all of my life I've been criticized for every move I've made while Mari does the exact same thing and gets praised." A single tear fell from Rina's eye. "I'm…I'm kinda jealous of you, you know? You had a loving family who cared for you at every turn no matter what happened. I…" Rina sniffled but didn't break down crying, instead wiping a tear from her cheek. "I never knew my father. As far as I know my mother got pregnant with me and my dad abandoned us. She might resent me for that too, thinking I cost her 'the love of her life'" she dryly commented.

Rina turned to look at Emu.

"That's…my story. Or at least part of it. It hurts, yes. But…I don't want you to be afraid to talk to me. About anything. I've had more fun with you and everyone else than I've had with an entire life with my mother and sister." At this point, she failed to hold her tears back. "And I don't want to lose my friends…I'm really sorry, Emu."

Emu didn't know what to say. He gently gripped Rina's hand, though she instead threw her arms around him for a hug, which he automatically reciprocated.

"…I…I do have one thing I want to say." Emu muttered.

"Go ahead. If you're ready…I'll listen and be here for you." Rina replied into his shoulder.

"…I was there when my father died. I'm barely able to remember my mother but I remember how it felt to be held by her and loved by her. My dad threw himself into his work, convinced he found the key to something while spending days away from home, eventually just leaving me at Auntie Yoko and Uncle Kazumi's house where he knew I'd be cared for. He never told me what. He told me about a machine he made that allowed him to communicate with aliens. I didn't believe him. Auntie Yoko and Uncle Kazumi are more supernatural than scientific so spending so much time around them when I was growing up influenced my opinion. But one day…my father picked me up and took me to his lab."

Rina gently pulled back to look Emu in his eyes. She reached up to wipe the tear from his cheek.

"He was so happy. I had never seen him like that before. There was some kind of machine there. I didn't know what it was. I only have a faint idea now. But he told me this was the key he needed to bring my mother back to us. I told him that was impossible, because she was dead. He told me that didn't matter, because he found a way…a way to…reverse what had happened."

More tears had fallen from Emu's eyes, enough that Rina stopped herself from wiping them as it would've irritated him.

"I see now that he was crazy. He was delirious and nothing I could have said would have gotten through to him. But…he activated the machine and…I could've stopped it." He whimpered. "The console was right there in front of me but I was so distracted by the 'pretty lights' coming from what he made that I didn't care. He went up to his machine. He ignored the first warning. The second and third ones were more important. Then it failed. I saw him be sucked inside that portal before the machine imploded in on itself. It took a second longer…and in that brief second I hoped my father was alright. The second ended when the crumpled hunk of metal exploded. The console lit up in sparks and I…the last thing I remember is seeing that wave of energy fly through those sparks and that failing console and then hit me. I woke up in a hospital bed a week later." Emu shook as he cried.

"My last memory of my father is him excitedly and elatedly touching a portal before the thing sucked him in and the machine collapsed around him. I don't know if it was the energy field, the machine collapsing, or the explosion that got rid of him. But I never saw him again. And at this point, he's most likely…dead."

Emu sniffled as he cried.

"It's okay…it's okay…let it all out. I'm here." Rina gently rested her forehead to Emu's, the two closing their eyes and just resting in each others company.

The two sat in near silence, the only noises breaking it being their sniffling, light sobbing, and shaky breathing.

It was after a few moments of this Emu tilted his face towards Rina's, pressing his lips to hers.

Rina, while initially having no idea what he was doing, attempted to mimic his movements and motions when she realized it was a human ritual for intimacy she had seen before.

Emu tightly gripped onto Rina's hand as he attempted to deepen the kiss. Rina let him do such, and then responded by again mimicking this action.

The kiss went on for a little while longer, up until someone tried to open Rina's door, and the two split apart quickly. The realization of what had just happened sunk in.

Emu's cheeks lit up as Rina backed her chair up to put distance between them.

"Uh…I…we…um…that…" Emu tried to find words to say, but prevented himself from starting or finishing a single sentence.

Rina simply stared back at him while panting, her cheeks lightly tinted from a lack of breathable air and what was most likely a reaction to an intimate moment.

"We're a lot closer than we seem…apparently." Rina commented.

The two then remembered the person at the door.

"It's Forrest." There was banging on the door. "Open up." There was more banging on the door.

Rina and Emu took a moment to compose themselves.

When they had finished, Rina got back to typing as Emu unlocked the door and opened it.

"Nice of you to let me in." Forrest remarked as he walked in with Horn. "I couldn't get in contact with Fea, but I left her a message."

"Are you two okay?" Horn noticed Emu and Rina were acting weirdly.

"What? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Emu said. "What's…what's going on?"

"Forrest told me you guys are about to destroy Planet X and going against orders. He told me to help, so here I am." Horn said.

"You know what we're doing is going to get us in a lot of trouble, right?" Rina asked.

"What's your point?" Horn asked.

"…nevermind." Rina said.

"How's the program coming along?" Forrest asked.

"Oh, I'm almost done. I used it before so it's in my computer files, the problem is finding a way to divide it into five parts to put in our Rift Legends. I need a bit more time to do that and then program it into our Rift Legends, but otherwise, I'm ready to go." Rina explained.

"That just leaves-"

"GUYS!" the door opened with Fea practically flying into the room. She stumbled forwards as she tried to quickly stop, but she righted herself quickly.

"Master's converting Earth into a manufacturing planet!" she said.

"Fea, wings." Horn reminded her.

"Shut up, I'm excited! Not happy-excited, but my body is excited and I'm-nevermind, that's not the point!"

"Back up, what's this about Earth?" Emu looked at her with wide eyes.

"Okay, I was with Princess when she mentioned Master. I had to find out what she meant, right?" Fea panted. "So I ask her to explain. Turns out, Princess's mother employed Master as the general of her army! And he's supposed to be making a new manufacturing planet for Peasants powered by Rift Energy."

"Oh my word." Rina said as she connected the dots. She leaned forward as her eyes darted back and forth, thinking heavily.

"…Planet X has points where it will connect to the End Charges on Earth…the End Charges will then be used to power the machines on Planet X, which then will be used to make Peasants that run on Rift Energy."

"That's what I thought!" Fea exclaimed.

"…you guys are making pretty big leaps in logic." Horn pointed out.

"It makes sense though. So we have a motive." Forrest crossed his arms.

"Come on, we have to tell Mrs. Venus!" Fea prepared to run but was stopped by Emu exclaiming "NO!" and grabbing her arm.

"What do you mean no?!" Fea glared at him.

"Fea…we're going to save Earth. But we're going against the councils wishes so we're going to end up in massive trouble." Rina informed the winged girl.

"Yeah. No one can tell Mrs. Venus. Agreed?" Emu said.

"But…she can help." Fea said.

"Not with this. If it all goes downhill, I'm taking the blame." Emu put his hands in his pockets.

"…even if this was my idea?" Forrest raised an eyebrow.

"Let's face it. I don't remember what I did during that meeting with the council, but whatever happened, I get the feeling they don't like me. So either way I'm getting the full blame for this. I might as well accept it."

"I respect that. But no. This was my plan. I'm taking the blame." Forrest said.

Rina interrupted. "Worry about it later you two. I got the program ready." She hit a button on her keyboard before pulling what looked like a USB drive from her computer.

"We'll need a plan. Fea, your father taught you strategy, right?" Forrest pointed.

"Well, yeah. He said I might need to know it in case I led my kingdom to war one day."

"Good. Are you in or are you out?"

Fea took a moment to think before she sighed. "Okay. I'm in."

Forrest nodded. "Rina, do you think I can understand the data on Planet X on your computer?" upon her nodded, he continued. "Emu, you and Fea are going to help me with a plan. Rina, you and Horn go to install the program into the Rift Legends."

"Are we sure that this is gonna work?" Fea hesitantly asked.

Forrest looked between the members of the team before him.

"We won't know until we try."

* * *

A few days later, Ruby Knight looked down at the screen of her tablet. Planet X was getting closer to Earth.

After Master broke his team out of prison, he put them back to work. The others had gone back to doing whatever as if nothing had happened, though she was a bit wary.

It didn't seem like Master knew she had essentially betrayed him. Though, she hadn't technically revealed anything to anyone. The data drive containing all of the data just happened to end up in her enemies hands.

At least…that was the excuse she had prepared if she was questioned about betraying the team.

She tapped a few buttons on her tablet, only to become aware of an alert. Quickly, she checked it, only to find the radar showing five signals moving towards Planet X. Checking the cameras revealed the shapes of the five core Rift Legends flying towards the giant machine.

This gave Ruby Knight pause. If they were on their way to stop Planet X, they couldn't land on it. She was obligated to report this to Master, though he wasn't likely to care except to gloat when she revealed they phased through. She kept watching the camera feed.

* * *

GarudaRanger piloted Garuda Legend towards the target, growing more intimidated the closer he and the rest of the team got to it.

It hadn't reacted yet, which Forrest had anticipated. They had no reason to believe the RiftRangers could land on the planet. That means that as soon as they landed, they had to act quickly.

"We're close to the target. It's time to make Rift Master." WerewolfRanger's voice came over the Rift Closer.

GarudaRanger nodded as everyone else gave vocal confirmation.

Though…now that he thought about it…how exactly did they form Rift Master? It was apparently an accident the first time and the second time showed no pattern to how it formed. It just…seemed kinda random.

GarudaRanger thought hard about Rift Master and how to form it. He didn't notice his eyes start glowing silver under his visor. He did notice as he started to float upwards.

* * *

The five Rift Legends were flying in a relatively straight line. They then started shifting around as their flight paths started to curve towards each other. They still flew towards Planet X due to momentum, though they were combining as they did.

When it was completed, the Mecha's eyes lit up.

 **Complete! Rift Master!**

* * *

"Well. That was easier than expected." MinotaurRanger commented.

"The program should be activated after a second." KrakenRanger.

Rift Master got closer to Planet X.

"Preparing for descent." PegasusRanger's wings flapped, as did GarudaRanger's.

Rift Master pivoted in place and flapped its wings.

Soon enough, the moment of truth came as it got closer to Planet X. Its feet briefly hovered as it slowed to a stop…and then when it dropped, it landed safely on the planet with a light banging noise.

After a second, KrakenRanger spoke up.

"Landing confirmed. We made it."

* * *

Ruby Knight stared at her tablet in shock.

They had actually done it. She…she hadn't been expecting that.

She didn't know how they had done it or what exactly they were going to do, but now she had to make a decision. She was honor-bound to report to Master anything important like this happening. But…at the same time, there was the chance that the Rift Guardians could stop Master and prevent the conversion of Earth into a planet of Earth into a manufacturing planet and also result in the death of all life on Earth if they had not evacuated everything alive.

She needed to make a decision, because it looked like they were leaving their giant robot.

Ruby Knight looked up from her tablet, deep in thought for a few seconds.

She didn't have time to think too hard, however. So she decided to make a quick decision.

She was bound by her honor to report to Master that the Rift Guardians had made it onto Planet X.

That did not mean she had to warn him immediately. Maybe after a while. After they had completed whatever it was that they were doing. But she needed to keep watching and determine just when the right time was.

* * *

KrakenRanger looked at the screen formed from her Rift Closer. After a second of thinking and quick calculations, she pressed the button on her Rift Closer. Her helmet dissolved into blue energy, allowing her hair to fall free.

"It's safe to breathe here. For all of us." She said.

"Wouldn't we need to keep our helmets on just in case we get into a fight?" GarudaRanger asked.

He didn't get an answer when MinotaurRanger also took his helmet off, revealing a sweaty Horn.

"Whoo! It's hot in there when you've had it on for too long!" Horn waved his hand over his face to fan himself.

"…" GarudaRanger stared at him in what looked like disbelief.

"…what?" Horn asked. "I need to cool down."

GarudaRanger just shook his head and removed his helmet as well.

Pegasus and WerewolfRanger did the same.

"So, stick to the plan. Emu, Rina, Horn, you three go install the virus. Fea and I will stay here and guard Rift Master." Forrest crossed his arms.

"What if you need our help?" Rina asked.

"Don't worry about us." Fea said. "Just get going already."

Before the three could get going, Emu gave one last glance to the team.

"Everyone…thank you."

"Don't mention it. Ever." Forrest said.

Emu gave a nod.

"Let's get going then."

* * *

Back at the base, Mrs. Venus walked into the main room and sat down at the table.

"…Mars." She spoke up as he stood behind her.

"Yes?"

"Where is everybody?"

"I don't know." Mars shrugged.

"…did you get a glimpse into anyone's eyes before they all just inexplicably vanished?" she asked.

"No." Mars shook his head.

Mrs. Venus nodded. She then held up her Rift Closer.

"Little fun fact, Mars. As the one in charge of everyone, I get the special privilege of having to keep track of them at all times." She said. "Which includes trackers in their Rift Closers." She pressed the button on the side.

The screen on the wall changed to show that of a map of what looked like several galaxies and stars. It then started zooming in drastically on a specific point. It eventually stopped on a picture of Earth and Planet X…only the five colored dots representing the team were all on Planet X.

Mars and Mrs. Venus stared at the screen for a few seconds, blank expressions on their faces as they took this information in.

Mars was the one to break the silence. "Hm…interesting."

Mrs. Venus appeared to be angry as she stood up. "This is not what I expected him to do when I gave him that advice." Mrs. Venus sighed. "…I suppose I'll have to scold him when we're done destroying Planet X."

Mars looked surprised as he looked at his boss.

"What?"

She looked back at him.

"You heard me. He's willing to break the rules to save his planet. I respect that. At the very least I should be willing to help him so I can cover for him when the council inevitably gets onto us. That also means I'm going to end up getting an assault charge after I beat the shit out of him for being insane enough to do this."

She started walking through the base. "Come on, Rina probably has something on her computer to get me there."

* * *

Emu, Horn, and Rina crept through the hallways of Planet X. Emu peaked around a corner, making sure no one was there before he turned back to Rina.

"Okay, no one's there."

"Hm…we need to go straight and then make a left at the next right." She said.

"Which left are we referring to, human left or regular left?" Horn asked.

"…what left is that?" Emu looked at Horn.

"Human left. It's a lot less complex." Rina answered before she walked past them.

"…did you mean right?"

"What? No, I'm not stupid." Horn replied.

The three walked through the hallways for a bit.

Rina stopped the two when they were at a set of doors.

"Wait…here. We need to get in here. Horn, pry the doors open after I undo the lock and shut down the alarms." She ordered before getting to work on her Rift Closer.

Emu kept watch as Horn readied himself. When Rina was done, she signaled Horn, he promptly stuffed his fingers into the crack between the doors and used all of his strength to pull the doors apart. They came apart surprisingly easy.

Rina led the two into the room, where they found a computer terminal of sorts. Rina went up to the terminal and looked over it while thinking on what to do.

"…Emu, come over here." She said. "I might need to shock this console."

Before he could do so, a fourth voice interrupted.

"Going for that terminal won't work."

Immediately, Emu, Rina, and Horn had their guards up as the doors shut behind them. "Shit, it's a trap!" Emu realized.

"No. It is not. I'm closing the doors so no one outside realizes you three are here." A door on the side of the room opened. Ruby Knight nonchalantly entered the room, her focus entirely on her tablet.

"Rue?" Emu questioned.

"Who's Rue?" Horn said.

"Me. I am Ruby Knight." Ruby Knight's voice came from both her and the speakers in the room until she tapped something on her tablet. "I am the personal bodyguard and helper of Master. As such, I reported your presence to him."

"We're not going down without a fight." Horn growled.

"Good. Master is expecting one. But, as I was saying, that terminal won't work for whatever you're planning." She finally looked up at them. "If you're planning to take down Planet X, I doubt doing something to this terminal will work. It'll shut down Arm 1, but you'll need to go to the head terminal where every other one is connected to fully do damage."

The three paused at this and looked between each other.

"I can lead you to the head terminal, but in doing so, I will effectively be your 'hostage', technically speaking. Which is a good enough excuse for me to help without entirely breaking my honor code."

"You want to help us?" Rina asked, looking between Emu and Ruby Knight with a confused expression.

"Of course. This is all a bit too brutal for me. I'm all for helping what I think are noble causes, but it stops being noble when innocent lives get sacrificed." Ruby Knight said. "So accept my help. It's the best option you have if you desire to stop Planet X quickly."

"Aren't you like…really honorable, though?" Emu asked.

Ruby Knight opened the doors again and peaked out. Upon finding no one, she nodded and turned to the three.

"I can punish myself for breaking my code later. Are you three coming, or what?"

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The six RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch, and MasterRanger laying on her side on the largest branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu and Mrs. Venus glowed red and orange with lightning and energy around them.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The six RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the six were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Kitsune Legend, Minotaur Legend, and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend and Kitsune Legend were on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm, and MasterRanger shook her head in amusement.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.


	13. Rift 13

Rift 13: The True World

* * *

Regular text: Connected

Talking: "Connected"

Thoughts: _Connected_

Rift Closer and Narration: **Connected**

Finishers and Emphasis: **"Connected"**

* * *

Forrest readied his Rift Striker while Fea stood beside him, aiming her bow and a single energy arrow into the air.

"Alright…release." He called.

Fea released the arrow, resulting in Forrest quickly aiming his Rift Striker towards it and pulling the trigger. The energy bullet flew out and hit the arrow, causing a small burst of energy similar to a firework.

"Good job!" Fea congratulated him.

"You could at least make it a challenge." Forrest smirked. "Let's go again." He said before pausing.

"What's wrong?" Fea noticed this.

Forrest turned to the side and looked off into the distance. He sniffed the air lightly as his ears twitched.

"…come out. I know you're there."

Fea looked at Forrest with a confused look until she saw four familiar figures step into view.

"So. What do we have here?" Aqua Knight asked.

"A pair of Rift Guardians, all alone. A perfect set of targets." Gold Knight laughed.

Dark Knight said nothing as he readied his weapon.

"I can't get your friends for my revenge…but you two will do." Silver Knight growled.

Fea and Forrest glanced at each other briefly but nodded and pressed the buttons on their Rift Closers. Their helmets reformed around their heads, to which they got into ready stances for a fight.

* * *

Ruby Knight came to a stop as she tried to recall where to go next, sighing as she felt the barrel of the Rift Striker on the back of her head.

"You do know you don't have to hold it so closely, right?" she quietly but harshly whispered to Horn, who was holding the gun.

"I thought we had to pretend you were our hostage though." Horn said normally.

"Horn, keep your voice down." Emu quietly ordered.

"What? Why? And can you speak up, I can barely hear you." Horn said, not getting the hint.

"If there are cameras, we can't have them overhearing us." Rina explained in a whisper.

"Oooooh." Horn realized. "Sorry." He whispered.

Ruby Knight crossed her arms. "Say we need to go left and to the third door on the right." She whispered.

"We need to go…left and through the third door on the right." Rina repeated in a tone that suggested an order while looking up from her Rift Closer.

Emu nodded and turned towards Ruby Knight.

"You heard her." He said normally.

* * *

Rift Mega flew towards Planet X, though in a manner that seemed like it was running through space.

Inside of it, MasterRanger was deep in thought as she ran. Primarily planning what she was going to do and how she was going to find her team.

Either way, she had the sinking feeling that this was going to be the end of something, though to what she had no idea. She just had to make sure it wasn't her team.

* * *

Somewhere on Planet X, Master watched several feeds at once. He watched Ruby Knight lead three of the Rift Guardians through the halls with a gun to her head. He watched four of his Knight Force fight against the remaining two RiftRangers in a match that was surprisingly close to being even, though it was clearly in the Knights favor. And lastly, he watched as the sixth Rift Legend, the one belonging to the one in charge of the team, approached Planet X, presumably to join the team.

He wrapped his fingers around a lever on the console.

"I suppose I'll just have to accelerate this. Very well." He pushed the lever forwards.

Planet X shook lightly as it sped up towards its destination.

Checking the video feeds showed the four Knights and two Rift Guardians suddenly have trouble standing, though the winged one was quick to start flying to gain an advantage over her opponents. Likewise, the three Rift Guardians and Ruby Knight also had trouble standing, though the large one was quick to grab hold of Ruby Knight to ensure she didn't run off.

It didn't matter.

Earth grew in size as Planet X approached it. After a couple of seconds, Master's hand found another lever that he quickly pulled before he started typing things into the terminal.

* * *

Kitsune Legend seemed to shrink back slightly when it noticed Planet X seemed to be growing larger at a much faster rate. It noticed it was moving towards it faster but pressed on in its journey to land.

* * *

"What's happening?!" Rina yelled as she leaned against a wall to keep steady.

"Planet X must be accelerating!" Ruby Knight yelled back. "Which means we don't have much time before the energy in the core is drained into the body and Planet X unfolds into its secondary mode!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Emu demanded from his position on the ground.

"The core of Planet X is pure energy! When we're at a certain point, we're to drain the energy into the body of Planet X, which is the mechanical outside! When that's done, the outside starts unfolding around the X-shape and rotates until it wraps around Earth and encapsulates it completely!"

"Really?! Why does that have to be a thing?!" Horn yelled.

"I never questioned Master's methods until now!" Ruby Knight responded. "Come on, we have to keep moving! We probably don't have much time before he starts draining the energy into the body!"

"How much longer would you say we have?" Emu demanded.

Ruby Knight took a second to think and calculate an answer.

"We probably have at least an hour and a half in human time before the process is complete! We need to hurry!"

* * *

 **Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!**

* * *

Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN

 **(Chikazuite te o nobashite)** The RiftRangers run through a Rift.

 **(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari)** Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita)** The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.

 **(Music)** The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"

 **(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo)** Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.

 **(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai)** Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.

 **(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na)** Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.

 **(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai)** The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.

 **(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo)** The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.

 **(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou)** In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.

 **(Chikazuite too no ite iku)** GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.

 **(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni)** KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.

 **(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu)** WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.

 **(Dare yori mo katai kokoro)** PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.

 **(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo)** MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.

 **(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o)** MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.

 **(Mitsukeru tame ni)** The six Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was of Rift Master and Rift Mega.

 **(Kakagae no nai nakama to)** The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master and Rift Mega once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of their mecha.

 **(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita)** They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.

* * *

With a bit of a struggle, Emu, Rina, and Horn had managed to get to a set of doors. Horn carried Ruby Knight.

After opening the doors, Emu and Rina headed inside and made it to the terminal.

"What happens after she uploads the virus?!" Emu demanded.

"It'll take some time for the system to overload, but when it does, there are backups but those aren't of importance as they won't be able to contain all of the energy Planet X contains for too long! We'll need to get to the main console from there!" Ruby Knight explained.

"What's the difference between a terminal and a console?!" Horn asked.

"The terminals help run the system throughout Planet X and keep it working! The main console is just the controls! The other consoles control other parts but the main one is the one that we need to focus on!"

"Can we please worry about differentiating the two later?!" Rina yelled.

"How much longer before-" Emu's question was interrupted by the shaking of Planet X stopping.

The three Rift Guardians looked around curiously for a bit.

"We must be right over Earth. There's not much time left before Master starts draining the energy into Planet X, we must hurry." Ruby Knight said.

The three RiftRangers wasted no time getting to work.

Rina began uploading the virus into the terminal, working as quickly as she could.

Emu kept watch while Horn held Ruby Knight off to the side.

It wasn't long before there was a loud noise.

"He's started draining energy into Planet X. Hurry." Ruby Knight ordered Rina.

However, Emu gave a sharp intake of breath and hid behind the door while trying to find a way to close it.

"Is someone coming?" Horn asked.

"Put me at the front. If one of the Knights catches us-" Ruby Knight said.

"It's not a Knight." Emu revealed. "It's-"

"EMU!" a voice belonging to an older female that the three Rift Guardians recognized immediately yelled from down the hall.

"Oh." Horn blankly said. "It's Mrs. Venus."

"How…how did she get here?" Rina blanched.

"I CAN HEAR YOU THREE TALKING!" Mrs. Venus yelled.

"She seems loud." Ruby Knight commented.

Mrs. Venus rounded the corner, revealing she was wearing her suit without a helmet like the other three Rift Guardians were. Her extra set of fox ears that she had been using folded down back to their hidden position.

"Emu." She said.

"Oh shit." Emu gulped.

"You are in so much trouble" Mrs. Venus sighed.

"Wait, it wasn't his fault-" Rina tried to intervene.

"Don't start. I'll only worry about placing blame and punishing whoever after we're done destroying Planet X." Mrs. Venus crossed her arms.

This cause everyone to freeze as they took in what had just been said.

"Wait, what?" Horn asked.

"You heard me." Mrs. Venus said. She looked past Emu to where Rina was. "What're you doing over there?"

"Oh…uh…I just finished uploading the virus." Rina backed up from the terminal. "We just need to go to the main console now."

"Good. Come on." She said.

"You're-you're gonna help?" Emu asked, what appeared to be a grin forming on his face.

No one was expecting for Mrs. Venus to give a short laugh that made it seem like she was putting on a front.

"Are you kidding me? I'm terrified of this thing. I've wanted to destroy it since it first came back." Mrs. Venus had a slightly nervous, slightly delighted grin. She proceeded to walk out of the room and leave four confused beings behind. She came back a few moments after to peak her head around and look at them.

"You four coming or what?"

* * *

WerewolfRanger fell back from the attack, panting lightly as Silver Knight continued his assault and came after him. However, an arrow from PegasusRanger before she was hit by Gold Knight helped distract him long enough for WerewolfRanger to strike the Knight attacking him across his chest.

Dark Knight was off to the side in pain, his shoulder having been dislocated by WerewolfRanger. He was guarding an unconscious Aqua Knight.

PegasusRanger used her wings to put distance between herself and Gold Knight before firing an arrow at him. After he was hit, she flew back at him then harshly kicked him across the face.

After this, she shot another arrow into his helmet.

WerewolfRanger lashed out with a kick to Silver Knight to knock him back a bit further before he jammed one of his swords into Silver Knight's bicep, driving it in deep enough that it came out the other side.

As Silver Knight cried out in pain, WerewolfRanger tugged his Rift Closer off his belt and plugged it into the handle of the Zero Saber he still had.

 **Werewolf Claw! Buster!**

The Zero Saber began turning a mix of violet and black as energy covered it.

 **"Werewolf Howling Buster!"** WerewolfRanger pounced at Silver Knight and slashed harshly across his chest before pulling the other Zero Saber from Silver Knight's arm. He spun in place and dragged both blades across each other to cover the Zero Saber he had just taken back in energy. Upon finishing his revolution, he slammed the blade of one across Silver Knight's front before violently slashing downwards to strike him with the other.

Silver Knight was covered in energy before he exploded.

WerewolfRanger pulled his Rift Closer off his Zero Saber and aimed it at Silver Knight.

 **Arrest!**

After Silver Knight was arrested, WerewolfRanger turned and dashed towards PegasusRanger to try and help her.

PegasusRanger slammed her foot into Gold Knight's helmet to knock him towards WerewolfRanger, who struck him across his front.

As Gold Knight stumbled backwards, PegasusRanger was quick to slam the back of her bow into his back to send him stumbling forward again, though WerewolfRanger sent him back to his partner with a drop kick.

Gold Knight angrily called out as he spun around and swung downwards.

PegasusRanger dove out of the way and activated the Rift Closer on her belt. WerewolfRanger did the same and got into a ready stance.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

 **Pegasus Flap! Drive!**

 **Werewolf Claw! Drive!**

 **"Howling Tornado Driver!"** The two chorused. WerewolfRanger tossed aside his Zero Sabers and jumped at Gold Knight from behind, harshly driving his claws downwards with energy trails following the attack.

Gold Knight was sent falling forwards into the glowing kick PegasusRanger had performed with the help of her flapping wings.

Gold Knight flew into the air and exploded.

 **Arrest!**

PegasusRanger arrested him soon after.

Upon landing, PegasusRanger turned towards WerewolfRanger and excitedly gave him a thumbs up. WerewolfRanger gave a light chuckle as he patted her on the head and turned towards Dark and Aqua Knight. When he found they were gone, he crossed his arms.

"Well…that makes things easier." He nodded.

"Should we go help the others?" PegasusRanger asked.

WerewolfRanger thought for a second before he shook his head. "No. We still need to do our part and make sure our way out of here is safe. They can handle it."

"Wow, you're really starting to trust Emu with this, huh?"

"I said they. I didn't say Emu." WerewolfRanger responded.

"I know what you meant."

"Obviously you don't."

"Ooookay."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

* * *

Ruby Knight led the team up to the doors of the room supposedly housing the main console.

"So what happens now?" Horn asked.

Ruby Knight turned to look at him briefly. "I need to get to the console." She said before reaching up to the panel on the side.

She didn't get a chance to open it when the doors opened on their own. Master waved.

"Hello." He used his waving hand to grab hold of Ruby Knight's shoulder and pull her behind him. His gun then found itself aimed at the four RiftRangers in front of him.

Emu quickly extended the wings on his suit and turned to his side to grab the ally closest to him and shield them, pulling them into a hug while using his wings to guard their heads. The closest ally happened to be Rina. Mrs. Venus was already running at Master by the time Emu had started moving. Horn started running after her a second later.

The first few bullets from Master had hit Emu's wings, resulting in him crying out in pain and gripping onto Rina tighter.

The next bullet went towards Mrs. Venus, who dove to the ground and performed a forward roll to avoid getting hit.

The last bullet was fired at Horn's head, though he barely dodged it when he dove forward and tackled Master in his stomach. Both went to the ground.

"Gah! God-fuck!" Emu yelled out in pain as he fell to his knees, his wings quivering lightly.

Rina quickly crouched down next to Emu to check on him.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" she yelled at him, a concerned look on her face while her voice also betrayed her worried feeling. She looked over his wing and gently touched the bullet hole, though that resulted in a cry of pain from Emu, Rina snapping her hand back as if burned.

"I'll be fine, just go!" he ordered.

"But-"

"Just go help!" he snapped.

Rina hesitantly nodded and ran to assist her teammates with her helmet forming back over her head.

Horn, in the meantime, had sat up and prepared to punch Master when Master aimed his gun at Horn's face. Horn barely got his helmet back on in time. The blast bounced off of it but stunned MinotaurRanger enough for Master to get him off and quickly spring to his feet.

Master jumped back to avoid an attack from MasterRanger, who had summoned her Master Staff and was now swinging it at him.

MasterRanger dashed towards Master, though she fell to her knees and slid across the ground when he aimed at her head and pulled the trigger. The bullet sailed over her head and she slammed her staff into his stomach.

Master fell back against the console. When he realized this, he quickly held his hand out.

"WAIT!" he yelled. "If you damage this console, Planet X will fail and Earth will be destroyed!"

MasterRanger paused. She slowly backed up as Master approached her.

However, she did notice Ruby Knight creeping towards the console. The visor on her helmet opened to reveal Rue's face. Rue turned and winked to MasterRanger before her visor closed and her hands moved to the console.

While MasterRanger was distracted, Master shot her in the chest.

"RAH!" MinotaurRanger ran in and tried to tackle Master again, though he stepped to the side and slammed the hilt of his sword into MinotaurRanger's neck. He then struck the yellow RiftRanger across his chest to knock him away from the console.

KrakenRanger ran in and aimed her Wave Gun at Master. She fired at him though he deflected both shots to the side.

KrakenRanger halted her shots when there was a loud grinding noise and Planet X began shaking.

Master paused and looked towards the console. He moved towards it and slammed his palm on a button.

The wall in front of him began shifting around, revealing a window that showed off Earth. The planet grew in size as Planet X grew ever closer.

"What's going on?!" MinotaurRanger yelled.

Master laughed out of excitement and glee. "It's over, Rift Guardians. This world will end!" Master shouted.

* * *

Mars watched the screen in the base with rapt attention. Planet X had slowed its movement towards Earth, but it was still moving. The trenches forming the X-shape were so close to the planet one would wonder why there was nothing happening if they knew nothing of the situation.

He could only imagine the panic the people on Earth were feeling at the moment.

Mars needed to call the council. There had been no evacuation efforts and-

Mars froze as there was a grinding noise from Planet X. His eyes widened as parts of the sphere began sliding into each other. By the end, the X shape was sitting on a metallic circle, with parts branching off from that to form the legs of what looked almost like a 12-legged star. The legs branched out and curved before meeting at a common point directly across from the circle housing the X.

Then the common point disconnected and the legs began to move.

* * *

Yoko and Kazumi watched the television in horror.

The strange object that had been approaching Earth had reached its destination. It seemed so large and surreal that it was hard to believe this wasn't a dream.

News stations around the world had been panicking, as had hundreds of millions of humans around the world, who had no idea what to do.

The reporter on the television could barely keep their composure together as they kept breaking the news to whoever was watching at this time.

Yoko looked to her husband with worry.

"Kazumi, we have to call Daigo and Ryo right now."

Kazumi nodded and quickly ran to the kitchen to get to a phone. They had left any kind of mobile devices elsewhere in their distress.

Actually, now that she had thought about it, Asuka was still gone too. She was probably staying at a friends house again. She'd been doing that a lot ever since Daigo and Ryo left. Yoko couldn't fault her daughter but she was worried. Especially since this was happening and Asuka hadn't called yet. Yoko or Kazumi hadn't either, but still.

Kazumi suddenly ran into the room.

"Yoko! It's doing something!" Kazumi yelled at his wife.

"What do you mean?" Yoko stood up and demanded.

"Just…come on!" he ran out of the room.

Yoko was quick to follow, running outside with her husband and joining him and looking up at the approaching planet.

She found the X shape was pointed in a way that made it seem as if it was aimed at them. And the object looked to be opening up like a flower.

* * *

"The Arms are unfolding!" Ruby Knight warned.

"Perfect!" Master laughed. "The Arms of Planet X will unfold and then close around Earth, with each point directly connecting to the designated End Charges covering Earth's surface. And then after the panels fold back out to completely cover Earth, the energy in Planet X will disperse over Earth and mix with the Rift Energy to help convert Earth into the perfect manufacturing planet!" he exclaimed.

From the doorway, Emu looked confused.

"Why would you just tell us that?" he asked.

"Well, I want you all to despair knowing exactly what you failed to protect this Earth from!" As Master spoke, he ran his gun over his blade before performing the energized slash.

The only one to be struck was MinotaurRanger, who was sent flying backwards into the wall while everyone else ducked.

Ruby Knight typed at the console.

"I can't-I can't stop it! It won't let me!" Ruby Knight yelled.

"Precisely! Once the process begins, nothing can-wait." Master paused and turned towards Ruby Knight. "Why do **you** want to stop Planet X?" he questioned, though his tone made it seem more of a statement.

Ruby Knight stopped typing and turned to look at Master.

Master stared at her for a second before he began speaking again. "Ruby. Why do you want to stop Planet X?" he repeated.

Ruby Knight seemed to be afraid to answer for a moment, but she did.

"I…I cannot just…sit by and let you kill trillions of innocent lives. Human or otherwise. I…feel that preventing such a genocide, or rather, xenocide is a worthy cause to break my code of honor." She explained.

Master listened to this and started shaking.

"You honestly thing lying in the way that you have and betraying me in such a manner excuses how you've destroyed your code of honor?" Master hissed.

Ruby Knight seemed to hesitate for a second, but she undid the visor on her helmet and pulled it off, making eye contact with Master.

"Of course. Killing trillions is not a worthy price to keep my honor code intact." Rue glared at Master.

"Ruby Knight…you traitorous shit!" Master smacked his former secretary across her cheek harshly. Rue called out lightly as the smack sent her to the ground.

"I should have left you in that ditch that I found you in!" He slammed his foot into her stomach. When that did little damage due to her armor, he brutally stomped on her nose.

Rue groaned in pain and clutched her face. Gold blood formed from between her fingers and trickled down her hand and face.

"My ideals may be naïve to you. However…" Rue turned to Emu before turning back to glare at Master. "I know that this universe is cruel and harsh. I know I'm nowhere near strong enough to fight you. But I'm strong enough to change this universe. I'm strong enough to strive to make my dreams a reality and make this universe a better place! And that starts with stopping you!"

"You little bitch!" he aimed his sword at her neck.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Emu yelled and started to move. He snatched the Master Staff from MasterRanger and converted it to its gun mode.

"Wait, Emu!" MasterRanger tried to stop him but was too late to prevent him pulling the trigger. He was knocked off his feet and onto his back as the bolt flew towards Master.

Master tried to deflect it. He was very quickly surprised by how strong it was though he did manage to get it away from him. It impacted the window behind him instead. The impact resulted in cracks spreading across the glass.

"Oh my…" KrakenRanger said in surprise.

"Emu…" MasterRanger seemed angry as she looked at Emu. However, she was surprised to find his expression filled with anger instead of surprise.

 _He…planned for that?_

She didn't get an answer as his helmet formed and he ran towards Master with his wings flapping.

He let out a yell that conveyed his pain despite his body continuing to move as if unhurt. GarudaRanger then leapt into the air and continued to use his wings despite the blinding pain he felt.

"HYAH!" GarudaRanger used his wings to fly towards Master, slamming his feet into his stomach harshly.

"EMU!" KrakenRanger cried out as Master impacted the window overlooking Earth. The cracked window seemed to crack even more under the pressure for a split second before giving way.

GarudaRanger and Master were both sucked out the window and sent flying towards Earth while the others in the room struggled to hold on to something steady. MasterRanger grabbed onto KrakenRanger to prevent her from willingly flying out the window after her friend.

Rue struggled to reach the button but eventually managed to, slamming her palm down on it.

A metal grate closed over the window to seal it and prevent anyone else from flying off into space.

"Okay. He's gone, can you stop Planet X before it finishes?" MasterRanger demanded.

"Well-I-yes. I can." Rue nodded, still somewhat in shock.

"Get to it. Quickly. Rina, Horn, come on, we need to go help Emu." MasterRanger ordered. "We'll come back for you afterwards."

"He just plummeted to Earth, how do we know he isn't dead?" MinotaurRanger asked, though he noted KrakenRanger's sudden angry glare in his direction.

"It's Emu. I doubt something that little will kill him when he's trying to save lives." MasterRanger said before walking out. MinotaurRanger followed after. KrakenRanger did as well, however, she took a few seconds to look at Rue before chasing after her teammates.

* * *

GarudaRanger plummeted towards Earth. He didn't know where he was and couldn't see anything. His wings couldn't seem to catch anything, preventing him from slowing his descent.

As he fell, he found himself unafraid of what was going to happen. It was strange. He could die and yet…he didn't feel afraid or worried.

 _What do I do?_ He thought, not noticing a sudden strange feeling as his eyes glowed silver underneath his helmet.

That question found itself unanswered as he suddenly found himself crash into a large body of water.

Initially surprised, he did make his way to the surface just in time to see the Rift that brought him there close. His suit faded away not long after her resurfaced.

 _How…how in the hell?_

Looking around, Emu found himself recognizing the area as a lake he often visited growing up. If he remembered it correctly, it was extremely close to the temple belonging to Yoko and Kazumi.

 _I ended up here? Well...it's someplace I feel safe at…but how did I get here? How did that Rift open?_

He swam to the shore and climbed out of the lake. Emu proceeded to walk for less than a minute before spotting the Mirai complex. Looking up confirmed Planet X was still above him. The arms had unfolded all the way and straightened out to form a star shape. Looking closely revealed it was still moving, but the arms were folding towards Earth.

Emu kept walking, hurrying towards the Mirai complex. It wasn't long before he spotted his aunt and uncle outside the complex and staring up at Planet X.

"Auntie! Uncle!" he yelled.

The couple's heads snapped downwards towards Emu.

"Shinji?!" Yoko recognized him almost immediately.

Emu walked over to the two, though Yoko made it to him quickly to throw her arms around him.

"Shinji, where have you been?!" Kazumi demanded.

"Preoccupied. Where are Daigo, Ryo, and Asuka?" Emu broke the hug to demand in return.

"We can't get in contact with them. Asuka should still be at a friends house but we can't get in contact with her either." Yoko informed him.

"Great…" Emu rubbed his face with his hands for a second.

"Shinji, you're soaking wet." Yoko just realized.

"Yeah, falling in the lake will do that." Emu looked up at Planet X. "I need to get back up there. I can help."

"Help? Shinji, what are you talking about?" Yoko asked.

"It's…a little hard to explain." Emu admitted. "There's a lot more to this that I haven't exactly honest about. I'll talk later, just trust-GET DOWN!" Emu quickly tackled his aunt and uncle, taking them to the ground as the wave of energy flew over them and cut straight through a tree.

The tree fell as the area where it was cut started smoking and burning.

Emu got onto one knee quickly as Yoko and Kazumi turned over to see what had just happened.

Master limped towards the three, his body covered in orange blood leaking out of multiple cuts which presumably came from the broken glass of the window he was sucked out of. One of his legs looked to be damaged heavily, being limp and practically bent at an awkward angle, which explained the limping.

His hand tightly gripped onto his still glowing sword, his orange blood dripping down the weapon.

"What in the world?!" Yoko said.

"Get behind me!" Kazumi got to his feet and moved to a defensive position in front of his wife and nephew.

"No." Emu stepped past him while patting him on his shoulder. "It's me he's after. Get to safety."

"Shinji?" Yoko said in a worried tone.

Emu pulled out his Rift Closer.

"So. I don't think we've ever properly met and fought each other before. Hi." Emu put on a faux affectionate tone.

"I'm going to kill you last. That way you can watch your world burn and melt as its converted into a hunk of rock only barely deserving of manufacturing Peasants." Master angrily snarled.

"Yup. You don't really like me either. That's fair." Emu clicked open his Rift Closer.

 **Garuda! World Connected!**

Yoko and Kazumi were surprised by dark clouds suddenly forming overhead, with red lightning surging through them.

"But, you're trying to destroy my world." Emu's fake grin dropped. A bolt of red lightning came from the clouds to strike Emu. However, when it disappeared, it revealed Emu had been replaced by GarudaRanger. Though GarudaRanger seemed to stiffen a little with his wings somewhat quivering, the points where he had been shot earlier still being visible.

"Shinji?!" Yoko said in shock.

Kazumi fell silent as he looked over his nephew's costume.

"No use really keeping the secret with that thing in the sky. Like I said, I'll talk later. Get to safety." GarudaRanger plugged his Rift Closer into his belt and pressed the button again.

 **Shock Lance!**

GarudaRanger ran at Master while drawing his Rift Closer in knife mode. Using both hands, GarudaRanger swung his lance around while aiming at Master's head. When Master ducked, he used that momentum to pivot on his foot and spin around. Upon reaching the halfway point of his revolution, he extended his leg outwards to try and kick his target.

Master was hit in his side by the kick and stumbled to the side a bit. He matched GarudaRanger's stab to his stomach by stabbing him in the chest. Master then slashed downwards to stun the red RiftRanger before brutally slamming his heel into his stomach.

GarudaRanger fell to the ground, unable to use his wings to prevent the fall. Thankfully, Master cried out in pain and fell to one knee, grabbing the broken leg he had used to kick.

GarudaRanger sat up and aimed his Rift Striker in gun mode at Master before pulling the trigger, sending a bolt of energy into Master's chest.

"Still feel good shooting people?" GarudaRanger remarked as he got up and changed his weapon back to knife mode.

After picking up his lance, he ran forward and jabbed it into Master's stomach while pulling the trigger. As Master was being shocked, GarudaRanger drove the Rift Striker into his shoulder and pulled the trigger, sending more electricity into Master.

As his opponent cried out, GarudaRanger quickly pulled out his Rift Closer and prepared to arrest him.

Master brutally swung his sword at GarudaRanger to get him away. He used this opportunity to shakily pull the Shock Lance out of his chest to lessen the shock before ripping the dagger from his shoulder.

GarudaRanger got to his feet and into a ready stance as Master held up the Rift Striker and his own sword.

Master moved to attack GarudaRanger, swinging at him with the knife before stabbing forward with his sword. GarudaRanger ducked under the slash and pivoted his body to avoid getting skewered. When the hand was close enough, the human grabbed hold of the wrist and pulled it towards him while throwing his legs upwards to perform a triangle choke and take Master to the ground. The two went down, Master taking a second to be in shock and try to get the limb choking him off.

He seemed to realize he was armed with weapons after a second and stabbed downwards with the Rift Striker.

GarudaRanger moved his head out of the way to prevent getting stabbed. He used his wings despite the pain to get off the ground and pivot them around so he was on top. When he did, he let go and tried to get away, successfully putting distance between him and Master. He activated his Rift Closer and got ready as Master prepared to attack again.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

 **Garuda Zap! Drive!**

 **"Garuda Lighting Driver!"** He yelled before jumping towards Master. He rapidly started spinning with electricity covering him. The drill moved towards Master, who yelled as he ran at the drill.

However, before GarudaRanger got close, he stepped aside. GarudaRanger did strike Master, though Master drove his hand forwards, using the closeness to his advantage. He slammed his palm into whatever he could. From the point of contact, a wave of energy traveled into GarudaRanger's body and covered him.

The drill immediately stopped with GarudaRanger flopping to the ground. Master fell backwards as a result of getting hit, though he didn't get back up.

GarudaRanger cried out in pain as his suit dissolved.

Emu grabbed at his side where he had been hit, panting heavily as he laid on his back and stared up at the side. He then noticed something moving in the sky.

After a few moments, the moving object turned out to be in fact be two moving objects that were moving in his general direction.

Emu turned over onto his front and started to drag himself across the ground towards his discarded Shock Lance, grunting lightly as his eyes seemed to be flashing a dull gray every few moments, when he stopped and let out loud hisses and pants of pain.

A loud crashing indicated the objects had hit the ground. Emu had reached his Shock Lance at this point and had driven the blade into the ground to stand it up.

He managed to use the Shock Lance to get to some form of standing that relied on leaning heavily against the lance. At the same time, footsteps and running could be heard in the distance.

As it got closer, Emu grabbed at his side and groaned as he felt another surge of pain from where he was struck.

"EMU!" he heard Rina's voice yell from the side. He looked to the side to see the other five RiftRangers outside of their costumes running towards him.

"What happened?!" Mrs. Venus demanded when they reached him, noting his current state.

"I'll be fine." Emu panted. A grin formed on his face. "You should see the other gu-GH!" he grunted in pain before he could point at Master, grabbing at his side. Rina quickly caught him to make sure he didn't end up falling over.

Forrest turned to look at Master, a blank look on his face.

"Uh…guys? What do we do about that?" Fea pointed upwards at Planet X, the Arms of which were almost completely enclosed around Earth.

"Ruby Knight is-"

"Her name is Rue." Emu calmly interrupted.

"Okay. Rue is doing her best to stop it. As soon as she's done and deactivated it, we need to get Planet X away from Earth as fast as we can. We can use our Rift Legends to-"

Forrest held his hand up to gain their attention, snapping his fingers loudly. When they were all looking, he pointed at Master.

The alien was moving slowly and making noises of pain. He picked up his fallen weapons from the ground and then pulled himself to his feet while hissing and grunting in pain alike Emu. He got to his feet and glared at the team of six.

"I'm going…to destroy everything…all of you…HAVE EVER LOVED!" Master angrily screamed at them. "But I'll start by destroying your bodies…minds…and this world. So you all know…" Master dragged his sword along his gun to energize the sword. " **JUST HOW MUCH YOU'VE FAILED!"** He raised his sword up and turned it over before stabbing himself in the stomach.

" **GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"** Master screamed in pain as the energy from the sword channeled into his body.

He ripped the sword from his body and stood straight up as if nothing had happened. Master lowered his arms to his side. His head found itself pointed upwards into the air as he screamed at the energy that filled him allowed him act as if he wasn't injured in the slightest.

He lowered his head to glare at the six RiftRangers. When he raised his sword back to swing there was nothing but blind rage behind the arc of energy that he sent their way.

Mrs. Venus and Forrest were quick to step forward and try to intercept the attack. Horn tried to cover Fea.

Rina hugged Emu and moved to position herself so that she would be hit instead of him. No one saw that Emu was glaring at Master. No one saw the gray flashing in his eyes abruptly change into a brilliant silver coloration.

The wave of energy didn't get too close to the six when a large Rift formed directly between Forrest, Mrs. Venus, and the approaching attack.

The attack entered the Rift with a second Rift less than a second later forming behind Emu. The attack came out of the second Rift and kept flying until it hit a tree and caused a rather large explosion.

Five of the six reacted in surprise at this and four of them turned to look at the explosion as soon as it happened. One of the only two who didn't, Rina, was facing the explosion when it happened. Her face contorted in shock. The only one who never reacted to anything so far gently pushed Rina off of him.

He could barely stand on his own. No one seemed to care as they looked at the shining silver coming from his eyes.

Emu pushed past Rina, limping through his group whilst deliberately ignoring the looks everyone was giving him.

When he passed Forrest and Mrs. Venus, it was certain that Master had all of his focus on him.

"Who…in the **HELL!** Do you think you are!" Master yelled at him while readying another attack.

"I'm…I'm… **I'm** …" Emu panted as he limped forwards.

Master's grip tightened on his weapon. When Emu stopped in place, he angrily yelled while slashing.

The wave of energy flew towards Emu. Rina tried to run to help her friend, though it was clear to Forrest and Mrs. Venus that he was fine. Horn and Fea were still in shock.

Emu appeared to be getting angrier as what appeared to be a red coloration formed around him. The aura covered him entirely as his eyes somehow became even brighter, practically becoming blindingly bright.

 **"I'M THE ONE WHO'S GOING TO SAVE THIS WORLD!"** Emu yelled.

Another Rift formed in front of Emu and its partner once again opened behind the other five. Once again the energy wave harmlessly entered the Rifts to explode at the trees.

* * *

Princess gently took the glass from Maid.

"Thank you." She said.

"All this for a kiss? Really, sister?" Prince said from his seat.

"Brother, when you find a being that somehow likes you and you like them back, you'll-" Princess jumped when there was a clattering of a metal plate next to her and glass shattered on the ground next to it.

The two heirs to the throne turned to look at their mother, who was standing straight up with her body language expressing shock as opposed to her regular lax nature.

"M-Mother?" Princess said.

Prince stood up and started going to check on her. "What's wrong?"

Queen stared straight ahead in shock.

"This Rift Energy…I've never sensed any kind like this!" Queen murmured. "It's almost like…no…it can't be…"

She waved her hand and a screen formed. After a second, a feed showed Earth, where Emu and his team stood across from Master.

* * *

Back on Earth, a tiny Rift opened in a tree with a small ball rolling out of it onto the tree. The ball aimed a sphere at the fight, broadcasting it to Queen, Prince, Princess, and Maid.

"Emu?" Rina stared at Emu as he limped towards Master.

Emu didn't seem to notice anything happening behind him as he continued on his trek towards Master.

Master continued to try and strike Emu with energy waves. But no matter how much he sent they were always intercepted by Rifts that sent them somewhere nearby where no one would be hurt.

Master gave up and instead decided to charge at Emu.

Emu didn't change his pace or expression.

At this point, Mrs. Venus, Forrest, and Rina had started running in to try and save Emu.

Master reached Emu and slashed downwards, intent on trying to bury his blade into Emu's forehead. What actually happened was the glowing hand of Emu's nonchalantly reached up and grabbed onto the blade as it was coming down, stopping it in its tracks.

Master let out a small gasp and looked down at Emu in shock.

Forrest and Rina continued running, though Mrs. Venus did stop at what she was seeing.

Master began trying to pull the blade out of Emu's hand, failing to do so. Instead, the energy in the blade began to travel into Emu's hand and subsequently into the rest of his body.

Emu's other hand tightened into a fist as aura covered it more

 **"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"** He started yelling as he reared back to then slam his fist into Master's cheek whilst letting go of the blade. Master was sent flying backwards a large distance away as Emu was left alone.

He panted heavily for a brief second, though it slowed and quieted fairly quickly with the aura dying down and his eyes becoming dimmer until they turned back to normal.

Emu blinked for a few seconds until he registered the pain in his left hand.

"…OW!" he yelled and shook his hand, which had been cut by the sword and was bleeding, but it wasn't the gash it should have been.

"Emu! Are you okay?" Rina had reached his left side to check on his hand. However, surprisingly enough, it was Forrest who had said that. Though Emu was surprised, he got over it quickly when Rina ripped part of the lower half of her top off and used it as a makeshift bandage on Emu's hand.

"Rina, what are you-" Emu had started to ask but was very quickly interrupted.

"Holy shit! That was awesome!" Horn came up from behind them and patted Emu on the back. Of course, that knocked him forward but given his team he hadn't had much time to dwell on it.

"Why can't you pull THAT out more often? We could've used that a lot before." Fea remarked as she stepped up to the other four with a joking grin on her face.

"Emu." The last member of the team stepped up, gaining their attention. "Are you good?"

Emu took a second to think before he gave a nod.

"We can't risk you blanking out again." Mrs. Venus said.

"No, I didn't blank out. I…I recognized everything I was doing but…I didn't stop myself…nor did I want to stop."

He looked up at Mrs. Venus.

"Maybe…it had to do something with Master activating my Rift Energy like he did with the excess energy that Forrest had?" Emu theorized.

"He did what, now?" Horn said.

"…ask him yourself." Fea pointed at Master.

The six directed their attention at him to see he was still coming back.

"…what more is it gonna take to get this guy to just stop?" Horn groaned.

"Let's find out." Mrs. Venus raised her sleeve up. "Come on you five. We're getting him for real this time."

"Yup. This'll be fun." Horn nodded.

Fea gave an excited grin as she pulled out her Rift Closer.

"Time to pay this asshole back." Forrest growled.

"…Emu, are you good to go?" Rina gently asked Emu.

Emu looked back at her and nodded. "Of course. Let's go!" he held up his Rift Closer. Rina gave an equally large nod and held up her own Rift Closer.

The six got in a line. In unison, they opened them.

"Open The Rift!"

 **Rift Opened!**

"Connect The Worlds!"

 **Garuda!**

 **Kraken!**

 **Werewolf!**

 **Pegasus!**

 **Minotaur!**

 **Kitsune!**

 **Worlds Connected!**

The Rifts that opened for everyone (minus Emu) covered them with energy and formed their respective suits. However, the quick flash of lightning that covered Emu instead covered all of them instead, making their transformation instantaneous due to the flash masking them.

After the five core RiftRangers plugged their Rift Closers into their belts, GarudaRanger took a second to think.

 _My wings are fine? Could this be because of how I absorbed the energy in Master's sword?_

After this second, he shook his head to get back on track before he lightly sighed and got things started.

GarudaRanger threw his right arm into the air "The Thunder World! GarudaRanger!" He held his right arm in front of him with his palm facing towards him while his left arm was loosely extended to his left.

KrakenRanger punched her fist into her left hand "The Water World! KrakenRanger!" She held her right hand outwards while her left was held in a fist by her head.

WerewolfRanger held his left hand over his face and his right in front of him "The Void World! WerewolfRanger!" He widened his stance and held his left hand in front of him with his right across his chest, his claws bared forwards.

PegasusRanger extended her arms out to the side "The Sky World! PegasusRanger!" Her wings extended and lightly flapped as she lowered her arms to her sides.

MinotaurRanger flexed his arms "The Rock World! MinotaurRanger!" He kneeled while punching the ground.

MasterRanger lightly laughed as she decided to join in. She cracked her neck. "The United Worlds. MasterRanger!" she punched her fist into her other hand, cracking her knuckles.

The six got out of their poses. GarudaRanger held up his right hand before he folded it into a fist.

"Our worlds are connected by our hearts!" GarudaRanger pounded his right fist over his heart.

"Sekai Sentai!" The six held their left arms across their chest while their right arms were perpendicular to their left, forming a plus shape.

"RiftRanger!"

The five formed their standard team pose. However, MasterRanger joined the pose, taking the space next to GarudaRanger in such a way that she mirrored his pose, holding up her right hand so the palm was facing upwards and her index finger pointed forwards and extending her left hand somewhat out to the side.

The five got out of their respective poses and got ready for a fight.

"Now…let's save the Earth!" WerewolfRanger yelled.

GarudaRanger glanced at WerewolfRanger but said nothing. The fact that his body language showed happiness for a brief second was not noticed by anyone.

 **Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN**

The six charged towards Master in unison, Garuda and PegasusRanger's being the ones in the lead due to their wings.

PegasusRanger went up higher while summoning her Wing Bow, firing several shots to distract Master. GarudaRanger lashed out with a kick to Master's stomach while he was distracted. Master swung his sword towards GarudaRanger's head but missed when he ducked down.

"HAH!" KrakenRanger appeared and leapt over GarudaRanger. Her foot slammed into Master's helmet, knocking him off balance briefly.

GarudaRanger and KrakenRanger didn't even glance at each other before they started working together to attack. Whenever GarudaRanger lashed out with a punch, KrakenRanger followed through with a kick of her own. Whenever KrakenRanger punched forward, GarudaRanger performed a roundhouse kick to Master's head. GarudaRanger planted his foot into Master's stomach and used his wings to help himself perform a backflip, slamming his other foot into Master's chin.

KrakenRanger then jumped forward and punched Master in his stomach to send him flying backwards.

MasterRanger, from a distance, took aim with her Master Staff in gun mode. She fired her weapon and sent Master flying back even further with an explosive blast.

"Now!" WerewolfRanger yelled. MinotaurRanger, who had picked up WerewolfRanger, proceeded to spin in a circle a couple of times before throwing the black RiftRanger at Master.

 **Zero Sabers!**

WerewolfRanger drove his head into Master's chest to knock him off balance.

Upon his opponent stumbling backwards even further, WerewolfRanger harshly swung his blades to cut all over Master.

"Forrest!" PegasusRanger yelled as she flew by.

WerewolfRanger stepped aside briefly to allow the arrow to fly by him and strike Master. He then tossed one of his swords into the air and stepped back.

PegasusRanger came down form directly above them while grabbing hold of the Zero Saber. She slashed downwards and hit Master across the helmet. Immediately, she proceeded to move her head slightly to the right to allow WerewolfRanger's sword to drive past her shoulder. Ducking her head down allowed WerewolfRanger to swing where her head just was and also cut across Master's chest.

PegasusRanger laid a kick onto Master's head to send him flying into the air.

"RAH!" MinotaurRanger leapt into the air and tackled Master. They crashed to the ground. Master's gun pointed itself at MinotaurRanger's head and fired. MinotaurRanger was pulled back by MasterRanger, who then aimed at Master with her gun and fired, sending him flying backwards.

Master tumbled across the ground. He caught himself and then energized his blade again by using his gun. He stabbed himself with the blade again to energize himself.

"Horn! With me!" WerewolfRanger yelled.

"Gotcha!" MinotaurRanger agreed and charged in with him.

WerewolfRanger slashed with his weapon. However, Master managed to block the attack and lash outwards with a kick. MinotaurRanger intervened and ran in to deflect the kick while slamming his fist into Master's helmet. WerewolfRanger used the moment of distraction to strike him.

The two continued with this routine for a good bit of time until Master grew tired of it and performed an energy slash that sent them ducking for cover.

So then MasterRanger and GarudaRanger began attacking.

MasterRanger landed a kick on Master's head before GarudaRanger came in and punched Master in his stomach.

When Master swung at him, he ducked down then cartwheeled to the left to avoid Master's stab forward. When Master turned and slashed again, he promptly backflipped to avoid that. MasterRanger, who had been converting her staff to its other mode, slammed it into Master's back.

"Emu!" she tossed it over Master's head when the target spun around to attack her next.

GarudaRanger caught the Master Staff and slammed it harshly into the back of Master's head before swinging it like a golf club to sweep his leg out from under him. MasterRanger planted her palm on his face and helped him on the way down, causing a small crater in the ground as a result of the amount of force she used.

"Come on." MasterRanger motioned with her head to the side, directing GarudaRanger away from the scene. He followed after her while returning her Master Staff.

The six regrouped only a small distance away from Master, who was slowly getting back to his feet.

"Let's end this." MasterRanger ordered before reaching down to her Rift Closer. She held down the button on the side while pulling at the lever on top.

The core five activated the Rift Closers on their belts.

 **Connection Established! Charging!**

 **Garuda Zap!**

 **Kraken Splash!**

 **Werewolf Claw!**

 **Pegasus Flap!**

 **Minotaur Smack!**

 **Kitsune End!**

 **Drive!**

"Guys, the call is 'Rift, Combined Driver!'" MinotaurRanger called as they were all powering up.

"Noted!" Was the only response given.

Master got up just in time for the five to begin using their attacks.

Pegasus and GarudaRanger took off using their wings while Werewolf and MasterRanger assumed four-legged stances. MinotaurRanger seemed to be growing in size. The parts of KrakenRanger's legs that resembled suction cups started splitting, forming eight tentacles that hung from below her waist around the black suit on her legs. An aura consisting of the colors of the six began forming before parts of their bodies began to channel that energy.

 **"Rift! Combined Driver!"** They chorused.

"Oh." Was the only thing Master said. His hand went to his belt, where he pulled a small ball off the side.

The team took off.

MasterRanger was the first to strike, flipping forward and burying her heel into Master's forehead to send him falling headfirst into the ground. MinotaurRanger ran up less than a second later to perform a powerful uppercut that sent Master flying into the air. PegasusRanger used her wings to enhance a kick to Master's stomach that sent him into WerewolfRanger's swinging claws.

Lastly, KrakenRanger jumped into the air and aimed her feet towards Master in a kick. The part around her hips where tentacles formed began spinning with the tips of the tentacles forming a kind of drill. Across from her, GarudaRanger spun as if he was performing his regular finisher. The two attacks impacted Master from both sides, the surge of energy creating a massive explosion that engulfed the two.

 **End Theme**

Soon enough, GarudaRanger came flying out of the explosion using his wings. He was carrying KrakenRanger.

The two landed on the ground with the other four.

Master limply flopped onto the ground behind them.

"Well. That was exciting." MasterRanger said.

"Now that just leaves Planet X." WerewolfRanger looked up.

GarudaRanger, who was still looking at Master, seemed to disagree when he noticed Master was getting up.

"He's uh…not down yet." He simply said, gaining the attention of the others.

"…what is this guy made of? He's taken a lot and he's still standing." MinotaurRanger commented.

Master was still holding tightly onto the ball he had taken from his belt. He pressed the button on the side and jammed it into his chest. The energy covered Master and he seemed to be growing in size fairly quickly.

The six blankly stared at Master as he grew in size, becoming Gigant-sized fairly quickly.

"…goddammit." GarudaRanger said.

MasterRanger checked on Planet X. The Arms had connected and the panels had begun moving back out of their sheathed positions, beginning to cover the Earth.

"You five get back up there and help Rue. I'll take care of him in Rift Mega." She ordered.

The others nodded. Quickly, they all entered their respective Rift Legends, restarting Rift Master and Rift Mega, which at this point had been idly waiting for their controllers to return.

 **Complete! Rift Master!**

 **Ready! Rift Mega!**

Rift Mega ran towards Master while Rift Master's wings started to flap.

Master looked towards the two before he looked up at Planet X. He threw his hand into the air and clenched his fist.

The X above them started glowing.

* * *

Rue worked as quickly as she could, trying to find a way to stop Planet X. The longer it went on, the faster and more desperately she worked.

"No…that won't work!" she slammed her hands down on the console. "What am I missing? The terminals should've failed by now so why is it still going? Are the backups more powerful than I anticipated?" she thought aloud. She didn't get to think much longer when the planet started shaking again.

"Come on!" she slammed her fist into the console and kept working, not noticing that the reason the planet was shaking was because of the X formed by the trenches giving off energy.

* * *

The X shot off a beam of energy that covered Master. It lasted a few seconds but when it went away Master was gone. He was instead right in front of Rift Master.

"AH!" MinotaurRanger yelled in fear.

Master slammed his fist into Rift Master and sent it falling back down to the ground.

Master then appeared before Rift Mega and slammed his fist into its chest to send it flying back.

"Why does he have so many backups to power him back up?!" GarudaRanger yelled.

"This is getting really annoying!" PegasusRanger whined.

"We have to get up there!" KrakenRanger motioned to Planet X.

"You want to tell him that?" WerewolfRanger pointed at Master.

"We need to get past him somehow!" KrakenRanger said.

"Here he comes!" GarudaRanger yelled.

Rift Master drew its sword as Master appeared in front of it.

The two clashed blades but Master immediately slammed his foot into the giant robots stomach to knock it backwards. Afterwards he began laying multiple heavy strikes across its chest with its sword. Rift Master did manage to deflect a few but overall failed to avoid getting hit multiple times.

Rift Mega pounced at Master from behind, hitting him across his back and sending him stumbling forwards. However, he very quickly turned around to slam the end of his sword into Rift Mega. Rift Mega fell back a step but wasn't too disturbed as it tried to punch Master. The attack landed and sent Master back a foot. His gun was aimed at Rift Mega's face a second later. Pulling the trigger sent Rift Mega stumbling backwards.

When Rift Mega looked back up, it immediately had to raise its axe up to defend itself. Rift Master came in from behind Master and slashed. However, Master blocked the attack with his arm.

The two RiftRanger mecha pressed their weapons against Master as hard as they could, though they were unable to do much.

Overhead, the panels of Planet X finally closed over Earth. Energy began channeling into the Arms soon enough.

* * *

Princess watched the fight with rapt attention.

"Mother, we need to do something!" she turned to Queen.

"I have to agree." Prince admitted. "Peasant manufacturing planet or not, this is rather…I'll say unacceptable."

Queen said nothing as she continued staring at the fight.

Princess turned to her helper. "Maid, go to Planet X now and shut it down."

Maid nodded and quickly jogged out of the room.

"Already making orders in my stead, Princess?" Queen said in a jovial tone. "I'm impressed."

The two children of the queen faced their mother.

"What?" Prince said.

"After all this time…it's really him." Queen faced the screen, her expression covered in shadows while her voice betrayed her excitement at the situation. "I suppose he deserves a gift of some kind. I do owe it to him as his stepmother, after all."

Gently, she held up her hand and flicked her fingers outwards to allow glowing white energy to cover her nails and fingertips. The light revealed part of her face, showing her scarred green cheeks and one of her eyes, which was red and flecked with a bright orange and dull gold. Not much else could be seen aside from a gold crown on white hair and the wide, nearly crazed grin on her silver lips.

A small Rift formed in front of her.

"Mother, are you going to help Master?" Prince asked.

"Hm? And why would I do that?" Queen sent the energy into the Rift. She was cloaked entirely in shadows soon enough.

"Mother?" Princess looked at Queen.

"Master has failed me. And his actions have become quite unforgivable. The murder of so many innocent lives can hardly be justified as 'just to make an army for our end goal.' I am many things. But an accomplice is not one of them." Queen responded as the Rift closed.

* * *

Rift Master fell back from another attack from Master. It fell to the ground.

Master stood over it and held his weapon up while roaring.

However, Rift Mega was quick to slam its axe into Master to distract him.

Inside Rift Master, the five RiftRangers laid back on their platforms in poses similar to Rift Master.

"We are getting our asses kicked." MinotaurRanger groaned in pain.

"Not much we can really do but keep trying." KrakenRanger pointed out.

GarudaRanger prepared to comment when he noticed something.

* * *

Inside of his helmet, Emu narrowed his eyes in confusion as he heard something strange. His eyes widened in shock when a Rift formed right in front of his eyes in the space between his helmet and his face.

He looked directly into the Rift and quickly noticed a white energy traveling towards him. Just before he could call out to his friends, the white energy traveled through it and into his eyes.

* * *

GarudaRanger slapped his hands over his eyes. The other four copied him.

"What's going on?!" PegasusRanger yelled.

"I can't see! Move your hand, whoever you are!" MinotaurRanger added.

GarudaRanger turned over onto all fours, keeping his hands over his eyes while letting out several panicked noises.

"Oi. Emu. What's wrong?" WerewolfRanger demanded.

He got no answer when GarudaRanger planted his forehead onto the platform while blinking heavily under his helmet, trying to do something about the white energy that went in his eyes. His head began filling with pain as his eyes began flashing between white and silver.

"Emu? What's wrong?! Emu?!" KrakenRanger cried out.

Outside the cockpit, Rift Mega made it to Rift Master, who was squirming on the ground almost exactly like GarudaRanger was.

"Hey! What's going on in there?!" MasterRanger's voice came from the Rift Closers of the five.

GarudaRanger let out one last groan of pain before the pain became unbearable.

"GAAAAAAAH!" he sat straight up with his arms limply at his sides and his head pointed straight up into the air. White and silver streams of lights came from his eyes as if they were beacons.

"What the hell?!" PegasusRanger yelled, as these streams of light were visible to everyone.

The streams of light suddenly started to bend, going into the helmets of the other four.

"Wait a minute!" PegasusRanger panicked.

"Guys, that afraid feeling is back!" MinotaurRanger called out.

"What." WerewolfRanger simply said.

KrakenRanger said nothing, in pure shock at what was happening.

Rift Master was doing the same thing, with streams of light shooting out of its eyes. However, instead of going into the sky, the lights seemed to bend before going straight into Rift Mega's eyes.

MasterRanger jumped back in surprise as the light entered the cockpit. She was unable to do anything when the light entered her helmet much like the other RiftRangers.

Master watched this with a blank expression for a second before he took his chance and charged. He got close fairly quickly and then slashed.

However, the attack got a foot away when a sphere of energy formed around the two mecha and stopped it.

The six Rift Closers in the two mecha started brightly glowing in their respective colors as the mecha started to float into the air.

 **Mega Legends, Combine!**

Rift Master split apart into its individual parts. Rift Mega also split into multiple parts.

Minotaur Legend's bottom half folded back down and plugged into part of the body of Rift Mega to form new feet. Another part of the body attached to the top of Minotaur Legend.

The fists of Rift Mega attached to the fists on Kraken and Werewolf Legend. The last part of the body of Kitsune Legend attached to the front of Garuda Legend to form a new chest plate. The four legs of Kitsune Legend connected to the sides of Kraken and Werewolf Legends, two of them attaching to the sides and parts that were going to connect to Garuda Legend while the other two folded in half and attached to the parts of the Legends that would form the shoulders. The heads of every Legend came off of their individual bodies.

The body parts reattached as if nothing had happened. The new arms attached to the side of Garuda Legend and the bottom of Garuda Legend connected to the orange piece on top of Minotaur Legend.

The tails of Rift Mega attached to the chest on Garuda Legend and folded around the body, leaving the tips to partly jut out behind the body.

The heads of the Legends reattached in different places. Kraken Legend's head attached to the left knee, Minotaur Legend's head attached to the shoulder formed on Kraken Legend's body, Werewolf Legend's head attached to the right knee, Pegasus Legend's head attached to the shoulder formed on Werewolf Legend's body, Garuda Legend's head attached to the center of the chest, and Kitsune Legend's head attached to the head on Garuda Legend's body.

The sword of Rift Master attached to the top of the axe of Rift Mega, the weapon falling into the hands of the new combination.

* * *

"UWAGH!" GarudaRanger fell onto the platform.

"What the…" MasterRanger, who was on a platform to his left, got onto both knees and looked around in surprise.

"Mrs. Venus?" PegasusRanger recognized her boss.

"What are you doing in Rift Master?!" MinotaurRanger asked.

"Did…did Rift Mega and Rift Master combine?" KrakenRanger realized.

"There's no time to worry about that!" WerewolfRanger yelled. "Come on, we need to stop Master and Planet X now!"

The six got to their feet and faced the same direction, the eyes on their respective helmets lighting up.

 **Complete! Mega Rift Master!**

Mega Rift Master began fighting Master.

* * *

Rue angrily slammed her hands onto the console.

"COME ON!" she yelled.

She was no closer to figuring out how to stop Planet X than before. Not only that, but it was almost finished enclosing Earth. As soon as that was done, no doubt the conversion process would start.

She had no time.

But she couldn't give up. Not when there were lives at stake here. She had-

"Um…excuse me?" a quiet voice said behind her.

Rue spun around and pointed her sword at the newcomer.

"Eep!" Maid raised her hands up trying to surrender.

Rue raised an eyebrow.

"…who are you?"

"I came here to help…" Maid quietly admitted to Rue. "I'm the head maid of the royal family…Maid."

"You want to help." Rue stated.

Maid carefully walked around Rue and made it to the console. She looked over the console for a second. Crimson energy covered her hand as she gently laid her palm down on the metal.

Rue watched blankly as the console seemed to be malfunctioning.

"Uh…here." Maid withdrew her hand. "My magic-I mean, Rift Energy should have affected the machine enough for you to get in and reverse the process…uh, pardon me." Maid stepped back.

Rue looked at Maid and then at the console. She began typing not soon after. As soon as she realized Maid was telling the truth, she got to work. "You did it…oh my word you did it!" Rue's grin covered her face soon after.

"Well, if that's all I-" Maid gave a high-pitched squeak when Rue threw her arms around her.

"Thank you! This solves everything!" Rue let go and got back to work typing.

"…I must be going." Maid continued. "Pardon me." She turned and left the room.

Rue didn't seem to notice as she rapidly typed.

* * *

Master fell back from a vicious punch from Mega Rift Master. The two had been fighting for a bit, though it was obvious that Mega Rift Master had the advantage.

Mega Rift Master continued charging at its opponent.

Master slashed repeatedly at Mega Rift Master, though the recipient didn't seem to be affected too much. One last slash was performed before Mega Rift Master slammed its head into Master's in a headbutt. When Master stumbled backwards, the mecha followed through with a kick to his stomach and then slamming its weapon across his cheek.

Mega Rift Master stepped forward to stab Master in his stomach before hitting him across the chest and then his shoulders.

A grinding noise came from above, prompting the two giants to look up

Planet X had started to open back up, the panels sliding back into the Arms.

As soon as the panels started sliding from their fixed positions back into their sheaths, the energy that was charging beginning to rain down and cover the Earth, though how much damage it was going to cause was not known at the current moment.

"What?! No!" Master screamed.

"Alright Rue!" GarudaRanger fist pumped.

Master looked back down and angrily slashed at the giant robot.

Mega Rift Master raised its weapon back up to block the weapon. Master aimed his gun at its head next, though it pivoted its head out of the way very quickly. Its robotic knee slammed into Master's stomach before he was thrown to the side.

"Come on, we have to end this now!" MasterRanger ordered, holding out her Master Staff, which had a blade of light jutting out of the top.

The other five held up their weapons, which were their Rift Strikers but with blades of light coming from the blade and an extended pole from the bottom to emulate the large handle.

In unison, they all pulled the triggers on their weapons and ran their hands down the blades to change them to their respective suit color.

Mega Rift Master held up its weapon as the tails on it started spinning.

 **"United Master Impact!"** The six RiftRangers chorused.

Mega Rift Master ran at Master and slashed in an X-shape before throwing its arm into the air, its hand sliding down the pole on the weapon until it reached the bottom. It then swung downwards harshly, the blade of the weapon brutally slamming down Master's head and chest.

Master screamed out in pain as he was engulfed in an explosion.

 **Arrest!**

A ball of light flew out of Mega Rift Master before traveling into the explosion. It came back a second later with the explosion dissipating soon after.

"Good. He's finally gone." MasterRanger sighed as she flicked her wrist.

"Now we just have too destroy Planet X, right?" MinotaurRanger asked.

"Sure. How?" MasterRanger remarked.

"Can we push it into the sun?" GarudaRanger suggested.

"Push it into the sun? Are you…actually, that might work." MasterRanger realized.

"How are we going to do it?" MinotaurRanger asked.

"Well…we can use Mega Rift Master to phase through Planet X…and then get on the same wavelength so we could push it through the universe with no repercussions to the gravitational pull of anywhere else. We could then shut it down so that when it hits the sun it's sure to be destroyed." KrakenRanger thought aloud. "We'll have to pick up…Rue on the way. Rue is her name, right?"

"Yes. Then let's get to it." GarudaRanger nodded.

* * *

Rue finished typing and sat back in relief. The cameras showed that the Arms were going back to their original position. The RiftRangers had also managed to defeat and detain Master and had made it back to Planet X in their…strange combined machine.

After watching it phase through, she watched as it seemed to sit still for a second before beginning to push Planet X until it phased through Earth and in a direction. All she could do was wait unti-

"You." She heard.

Rue spun around to find two familiar figures in armor guarding the door.

"Dark Knight. Aqua Knight." She nodded.

The two Knights were standing in the doorway with their swords at the ready. Dark Knight had had his dislocated arm put back in by Aqua Knight.

"All of this was going well. And you ruined it." Aqua Knight was fuming.

"Well. I suppose you can reason that it was partially my fault." Rue nodded. "Very well. If you're planning on killing me, get on with it."

"Killing?" Dark Knight said. "You'll wish we had killed you when we're done." He pointed his sword at her.

Rue unsheathed her sword and prepared for a fight.

Then a very unfamiliar voice said something from the hallway.

"Helloooooo? Housekeeping?" a faux feminine voice called out.

As Dark and Aqua Knight's spun around, a figure suddenly and quickly passed by them without them noticing.

The source of the voice stepped into view, revealing an unfamiliar RiftRanger.

This RiftRanger was wearing a black suit that had silver lines running up and down the front and back of his arms and legs, only being stopped by bands around his ankles and wrists. The lines went up to his stomach, where armor covered the area from there to his shoulders. The armor was metallic and held several alien symbols along with a diagonal line from right shoulder to the left side of his waist. Above the line was a metallic silver, while below it was a dull gray.

The specialized look of his suit on the outside of the lines had a kind of fur on his arms alike that of a lion and clawed hands while the lower half of his suit had normal boots but fur alike that of a goat. His shoulderpads held the heads of other animals, the right shoulder holding a silver goats head while the left side held what looked like a silver bat's head. A pair of metallic bat-like wings hung from his back alike Garuda and PegasusRanger. A tail resembling a silver snake hung from a little bit below the small of his back. His helmet looked sort of like a cross between the regular RiftRangers and the one MasterRanger had. The front of his helmet looked distinctly like that of a lion's face, though his helmet was entirely black and the face was lined with silver. Instead of having a visor like MasterRanger, he instead viewed things from the metallic silver eyes of the lion.

On his left writs was a Rift Closer that was similar to MasterRanger's, only it was a mix of silver, gray, and bronze.

"Another one?" Aqua Knight said.

"We can handle a RiftRanger and a traitor." Dark Knight said.

"Can you handle two RiftRangers?" a female voice that was not Rue's spoke up behind them.

Dark Knight and Aqua Knight spun around to see the figure that had slipped by them was standing in front of Rue with her arms crossed and her head down, avoiding eye contact.

This figure had a suit alike the silver RiftRanger, only with a dull dray as opposed to the metallic silver. The line going across her armor had the diagonal line go from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist. Above the line was a metallic silver while below it was the dull gray.

The specialized look of her suit had scales running up and down her side outside of the dull gray lines. However, below her waist there was a kind of cloak that held a gray scaled design. Her helmet held the design of the head of what looked almost like a serpents head that was lined with dull gray. The dull gray eyes on the serpent functioned as the eyes she looked out of. Her right wrist held a Rift Closer identical to the one on the silver RiftRanger.

Before either Knight could respond, the gray RiftRanger jumped up and drop kicked Dark Knight. She easily flipped backwards and landed softly on her feet as Dark Knight fell into the hallway. The silver one stepped forward and to the side, his tail extending. The snake head bit down on Aqua Knight's shoulder before the tail yanked Aqua Knight back into the hallway.

The silver RiftRanger stepped into the room and pivoted in place to stand next to his partner.

Aqua Knight and Dark Knight looked towards the two in confusion. They were undeterred, however, and got into ready stances.

They were then ignited in flame, much to their surprise and horror.

A figure walked past them and into the room, standing in front of the two new RiftRangers before holding out his hand, absorbing the fire back into himself.

As soon as they confirmed they were not on fire anymore, the two Knights got a good look at the new attacker.

He was wearing a black suit like the other two, only he had bronze lines running up and down his arms and legs and armor and several bronze highlights all over his sides. The line of his armor was also horizontal as opposed to pointing diagonally. Above the line was the metallic silver while below it was the dull gray.

The specialized look of his suit had what looked like a cross between feathers and scales on his sides outside of the lines along with what looked like a flame design. The parts between his arms and his back held a pair of leathery wings lined with feathers and flames. His hands were clawed, as were his feet. A tail hung from the small of his back, though it looked like a mix between a dragons and a phoenix's.

His helmet looked like the other two, though the design on the front looked like a cross between the head of a phoenix and the head of a dragon. The design was lined with a bronze coloration and, like the other two, he had bronze eyes on the design that he saw out of. The Rift Closer was on his left wrist.

"You alright?" The silver RiftRanger glanced at Rue.

"I'm…I'm fine." Rue said.

"Good." The bronze RiftRanger pointed at the door. "Now get out of here. We'll take care of these two."

"What?" Rue blinked.

The gray RiftRanger sighed. "We're helping. Those other Rift Guardians are doing something, but they're here. Go to them and have them get you out of here."

Rue nodded in understanding and reached for her tablet, but was stopped by the gray RiftRanger.

"Leave it."

"I'm sorry? I need th-"

"You don't need anything. Just go." The gray RiftRanger ordered.

Rue looked between the three RiftRangers and slowly backed away. "Fine." She sheathed her sword and ran out of the room.

Dark Knight made to go after her, but was stopped by a wall of flame forming in the hallway to prevent either Dark Knight or Aqua Knight from escaping.

"Who the hell are you three?!" Aqua Knight demanded.

"Hmph. Who are we?" the strange, bronze RiftRanger asked while laughing. "I suppose it would make sense that you're curious as to who the mysterious trio about to beat your asses are."

The silver RiftRanger stepped forward. The heads on his body suddenly opened up and let out their own respective calls. "The Animal World…ChimeraRanger!" he slammed his palms to the ground before dragging his claws across the metal and then wiping his right hand across the mouth of the lion.

The gray RiftRanger crossed her arms again with the cloaks on her lower half moving around as if alive. "The Desert World. BasiliskRanger." Her left hand moved up to her face and waved over her eyes as she looked up.

Lastly, the bronze RiftRanger laughed while flicking his wrist. The flames on his suit briefly ignited as he held his held upwards and then extended his arms outwards to show off his wings. "The Blazing Star! BlazeRanger!" the RiftRanger crossed his arms in an x-shape in front of himself.

The three got out of their poses.

"We are…" BlazeRanger started.

In unison, the three started moving again. BlazeRanger threw his right hand into the air, BasiliskRanger looked down and covered her mouth with her right hand, and ChimeraRanger squatted while holding his clawed left hand near his face.

"LegendRanger!" they chorused.

"Legend…Ranger?" Aqua Knight repeated.

"That's right!" ChimeraRanger jumped to his feet and seemed to be getting ready to fight.

"Let's make this quick. We don't really have a lot of time." BasiliskRanger said.

BlazeRanger nodded. "I'll take the weirdo in all black. You guys get the other one."

"Fine." BasiliskRanger said.

"Okay!" ChimeraRanger gave a salute.

The three went to fight.

BasiliskRanger and ChimeraRanger attacked Aqua Knight. BasiliskRanger jumped up and flipped in the air to avoid getting hit by his sword. After landing she slammed the side of her fist into his neck. As he was hit, ChimeraRanger slammed his claws into his stomach.

Aqua Knight didn't get a chance to register his pain when BasiliskRanger jumped into the air to wrap her legs around his neck. She spun her body, using the momentum to send Aqua Knight rolling forward. As he fell forward, BasiliskRanger let go of his neck and fell out of the way to allow ChimeraRanger to perform an uppercut to Aqua Knight's falling chin.

BasiliskRanger moved to her feet in one fluid motion. ChimeraRanger pounced onto Aqua Knight and took him to the ground. He then proceeded to scratch him across his chest hard enough to cut through his armor before pulling him up by the collar and tossing him towards BasiliskRanger.

The gray RiftRanger nonchalantly moved out of the way to avoid getting hit. Aqua Knight slammed into the wall.

"Watch what you're doing, idiot." She said to her partner.

"Sorry. Either way, let's get him!" ChimeraRanger pointed to him.

BasiliskRanger just shrugged and continued to help assault Aqua Knight.

Meanwhile, BlazeRanger seemed to be dominating in his fight with Dark Knight. As BlazeRanger seemed to be controlling fire and preventing too many shadows from forming, there was no way for Dark Knight to use his powers and avoid BlazeRanger's attacks.

BlazeRanger kneed Dark Knight in his stomach before headbutting him. Dark Knight grunted in pain but used this close proximity to try and stab BlazeRanger.

The metal didn't even get an inch close to the suit before it melted and dripped harmlessly to the ground.

Dark Knight quickly retrieved his hand as the metal on his hand started to smoke. BlazeRanger used this distraction to grab hold of Dark Knight's head and slam it into the metal wall before tossing him back into the room.

"Oi. Fang, you want to handle this one?" BlazeRanger asked.

"No." was all BasiliskRanger said. "Muzzle. Take care of them already."

"Heh! You got it!" ChimeraRanger excitedly said as he reached up to his Rift Closer and activated his finisher in the same manner that MasterRanger had done before.

 **Linked! Loading!**

 **Crazed Chimera! Overcharge!**

ChimeraRanger drew his arms back as his claws extended even more. White energy covered them as he jumped up and started slashing at the two Knights. Upon finishing, he lowered his arms to his side to allow the heads on his shoulders to roar.

The blast of energy sent Aqua Knight and Dark Knight into the consoles, resulting in the damaged console sparking and giving off bursts of electricity.

BasiliskRanger reached out towards them and activated her Rift Closer.

 **Arrest!**

After arresting the two, BasiliskRanger flicked her wrist and walked over to the console, picking up Rue's tablet. She looked through it for a moment before nodding. "The information we need is on here. We can leave now." She simply said.

"Perfect" BlazeRanger said, his tone revealing his glee. "Let's get out of here. Those other RiftRangers can handle this."

The two nodded and turned to leave.

* * *

Rue moved through the hallways quickly. She was moving towards where she saw the combined RiftRanger mecha against Planet X. If she were lucky, they would-

Rue ended up jumping and pointing her sword at a figure she encountered when she turned the corner.

"Whoa! Hey! It's me!" Mrs. Venus held up her hands. Her other ears were pointing upwards due to her helmet being gone.

"Oh…uh…apologies." Rue sheathed her sword.

"Yeah. It's fine. Come on, we need to get back to Mega Rift Master and inside before it tosses Planet X into the sun."

"Tosses…what?" Rue paused.

"You'll see." Mrs. Venus pulled Rue by the hand through the hallways quickly.

* * *

Inside the cockpit of Mega Rift Master, MasterRanger stepped out of a Rift onto her platform, Ruby Knight holding onto her as she did.

"AH!" Ruby Knight briefly stumbled in place and quickly hugged MasterRanger to prevent falling off the platform. "What…what is this place?" she asked.

"Uh…welcome to the Mega Rift Master, Rue." GarudaRanger said.

MasterRanger opened another Rift. "Go through here. If you find someone, tell them 'Mars, Mrs. Venus says to wait for her to come back.'"

Rue looked at MasterRanger and then at the Rift. She nodded and then leapt into the Rift before it closed.

"So how close are we to the sun?" the orange RiftRanger asked.

"We're getting closer. Planet X turned solid again a while back so it'll be easier to throw it into the sun and destroy it.

"No. We may need to destroy it beforehand to make sure it can't come back. And then we burn the remains." GarudaRanger suggested. "Mrs. Venus, you wanna do the honors?" he asked.

MasterRanger looked at him in surprise.

"You said you wanted to destroy it, right?" GarudaRanger asked MasterRanger. "Go ahead."

MasterRanger looked at GarudaRanger and then the other members of the team, who nodded in approval. MasterRanger nodded as well and turned to the front. The eyes on all of their suits lit up as Mega Rift Master synched back up to them.

Mega Rift Master pushed Planet X with all of its force. It did it for a while longer until it just stopped and let Planet X drift forwards a bit. The mecha brought its arms together in an X-shape over its chest while the tails of Kitsune Legend that were folded around the body unfolded to form another X-shape.

The heads of the four Rift Legends on the shoulders and knees of the mecha popped off and attached to the ends of the tails. An energy aura formed from the six heads of the Rift Legends and clouded in front of the mecha as the colored parts of the Rift Legends started to light up in their respective colors.

 **"Rift! EnDynamiCrush!"**

Mega Rift Master extended its arms to the sides, resulting in the tails spinning rapidly. The cloud of energy was absorbed into the fan and then expelled back out as a large stream of energy.

The energy flew at Planet X.

When it hit, instead of pushing it, the energy started to drill through the metal surface. It didn't take much longer before it drilled entirely through Planet X. Mega Rift Master proceeded to pivot in place, aiming the beam at other parts of Planet X to cut it into multiple pieces. It continually did this for a good while longer.

When the energy finally stopped, Mega Rift Master watched as the remains of Planet X flew further and further away and closer and closer to the sun. They eventually fell into the gravitational pull of the star and were pulled into the flames. A small violet light could be seen from where the parts impacted, but the lights died down soon enough.

"Planet X…destruction confirmed." MasterRanger quietly whispered.

* * *

The six Rift Guardians exited a Rift on Earth, appearing near a tree that overlooked a field.

Rina stepped towards a blank area and analyzed it with her Rift Closer.

"So…this spot held an End Charge…" she said aloud.

"…where is it?" Horn looked around.

"…gone. There are traces of it around, along with the energy Planet X dispersed onto Earth. I theorize that the energy did something to the End Charge and both energies just…kinda mixed together. The End Charge is still here, it's just dissolved into the air and…well…still spreading around, to be honest."

"What does that mean?" Fea tilted her head in confusion.

"The energy covered Earth. I don't think it was harmful, but both it and the energy from the End Charges have covered the Earth. I think it's likely things may change on this planet because of it."

Mrs. Venus lightly laughed as a thought came to her. "No doubt there are probably hundreds of humans who absorbed it. You may get some human friends in the Rift Guardians, Emu." Mrs. Venus smirked.

It was then that Mrs. Venus noticed that Emu looked a bit strange.

"Cool. I'm gonna…just take five real quick." His eyes fluttered shut and he began falling over.

The five immediately reacted, Rina quickly running over to him and catching him to ensure his fall to the ground was gentle. Horn and Fea moved onto their knees to check on Emu. Mrs. Venus rushed over. Forrest moved towards them, just not as quickly.

"What's wrong?!" Fea demanded.

"Did something happen?!" Mrs. Venus questioned.

Rina looked down at Emu, whose head was planted in her lap. His eyes were closed, but checking his neck revealed his vitals were fine. His breathing looked fine as well.

The only odd thing she noticed was the odd noise coming from his mouth and nose that was relatively quiet, though still noticeable.

Forrest shook his head while grinning.

"He's snoring. He'll be fine. He's been working hard for a couple of hours now. No doubt his fight with Master and…whatever the hell happened with his eyes and just before our final fight with Master drained him. Let him sleep for now."

A loud noise gained the attention of four of the six that were currently awake, though looking revealed Forrest had just flopped onto the ground.

He sighed in relief. "We have a long road ahead of us, what with punishment from the council and the covering of Earth with Rift Energy. But we've had an even longer day. Let's just rest for now."

Horn immediately took that as permission to flop onto his back and put his hands behind his head, staring up at the sky. Fea let her wings extend out to the sides before laying on her back and looking up to the sky.

Mrs. Venus crouched down on the ground and briefly looked at Emu and Rina. Rina had dragged Emu over to the tree so she could lean against it, but otherwise she had let him rest. She didn't seem to realize she was watching him sleep.

Mrs. Venus smirked as he laid on the ground and stared up at the sky. Now that she thought about it, she rather liked this blue sky. She could see why Emu would want to protect it, amongst other things.

She stared at the sky for a few more seconds before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** The six RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch, and MasterRanger laying on her side on the largest branch.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!)** The seven ran together through the field.

 **(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru)** Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.

 **(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite)** Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.

 **(Zutto sono toki o matteiru)** Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.

 **(Makeru koto mo atta kedo)** Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.

 **(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate)** Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.

 **(Mata tsuyokunareta)** Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.

 **(Shinjireba ii sa)** It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.

 **(Ima made yori mo "ima" o)** Emu and Mrs. Venus glowed red and orange with lightning and energy around them.

 **(Genkai nantemon)** Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.

 **(Yu ni koero)** Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.

 **(Ima hajimaru no sa)** The six RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.

 **(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori)** In a flash, the six were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.

 **(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!)** They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.

 **(Kono te ni aru)** They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Kitsune Legend, Minotaur Legend, and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend and Kitsune Legend were on all fours.

 **(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete)** GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm, and MasterRanger shook her head in amusement.

 **(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!)** Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.

 **(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!)** The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.

* * *

Elsewhere, much later after everything had gone down, three figures sat at a table. The three figures wore Rift Closers completely identical to the ones on worn by the LegendRangers.

One of the figures, a woman, held Rue's tablet and swiped through it.

"So…the data here does correspond with what we were looking for." She said. "If I'm right, this could hold the missing piece of the map that we need."

"That's great, Fang!" one of the others excitedly said. "That means the map is complete now, right Bou?!"

"Yes, Muzzle. This data is just the first stepping stone on our path the becoming Gods." Bou said.

"Well, we may not be able to do it alone. Those six RiftRangers were able to destroy Planet X." Fang suggested.

"Are you really suggesting we get help from them? We're supposed to find the God Core, not them." Muzzle pouted.

Bou smirked before he stood up. "I say we go for it. If they can handle us, good for them. But if not…well…they'll realize it soon enough.

* * *

Mega Rift Master fired its finisher and cut Planet X into several pieces before the weapon fell into the sun of Earth's solar system.

Prince sighed lightly.

"YES!" Princess cheered loudly. She then became embarrassed and apologized.

Maid gave a grin of happiness, only to jump when Princess surprised her by cheering.

Hand, who had been called in sometime during the fight between the RiftRangers and Master, gave a disappointed sigh. "My Queen. What now? They most certainly can tie Master and his plan to us."

However, it appeared that Queen was not paying attention.

"My Queen?" Hand said.

Queen shook as she laughed.

"Sekai Sentai…RiftRanger…" Queen said. "Interesting."

* * *

 **End of Season Two**


End file.
